Lessons
by TillDawnTomorrow
Summary: Sometimes it takes some time alone with the bird you hate the most to learn that, just when you thought you knew all about him, you really knew nothing at all. That's one of the lessons that, for three days, Blu and Roberto will be part of, whether they want to or not. (Blu/Roberto. SLASH. Rated M for sexual content in some chapters, but not all of them. - post Rio 2)
1. Tylerino

A.N.

This was originally going to be a one-shot story, but as I went on writing it, it ended up into something much larger!  
So alas, my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic, which _technically_ is already finished. But rather than dumping all chapters right away, I'll give each chapter a revision first and do any necessary rewrites, which may or may not be relevant to any reviews I get.

Chapters will get much longer as the story goes on.

Alas, enjoy.

* * *

**Lessons**

**Chapter 1: Tylerino**

"Th-three days?!" Blu felt his whole body shiver, despite the summer heat already permeating the air in the Amazon.

"What? You didn't know?" Jewel looked at him incredulously. "I thought you and my dad went through this already!"

"Your dad said _nothing_ of three days! Had I known beforehand that I'll be gone for so long I'd have never agreed to do this!"

"Oh, come on, Blu! What happened to that 'Mister Jungle' spirit? Is three days really a long time for you?"

"Oh, it's not so much the time as it is, you know, the place I'm spending it at!" He continued to protest.

Jewel sighed frustratingly. "Blu, come on now. The side-grove? It's one of the safest places in the jungle!"

"That's not how your dad described it to me the other day."

She rolled her eyes. "Ok. I admit my dad likes to exaggerate with things like that, but Blu, I too went through the survival course when I was a lot younger and I came out alright!"

"Yes, honey, but that was _you_. And this is, well, _me."_

"All the more reason to go for it!"  
She could see her husband didn't take the commentary keenly.  
"Trust me, Blu. It'll do you good." She held his shoulder reassuringly. "I know it may seem pointless right now, but it will all feel worth it by the end of it. I promise!"

Blu finally gave in. He knew it was useless to keep objecting, especially after he had indeed agreed to go through it. More as per request of his wife than a genuine interest in learning survival in the jungle, but Blu was a bird of his word. "If you say so, dear. I'll do it." He gave a weak smile.

They shared a kiss. The issue was settled.

"You could be right. If anything, me and your dad could try and bond a little better, now that things are less rocky now." Blu exclaimed, trying to think out loud for a good side to his excursion. "Speaking of him, when is he coming?"

"Uh…my dad?" Jewel stared at him confusedly.

"Yeah, you know, so we can head out to the side-grove already. Don't worry! I promise I won't do anything to stall. I'll be following him suit right the moment he appears!"

"Uh, Blu…my dad isn't who's taking you to the side-grove."

"Wait, what?" Now it was him who looked baffled. "Not him? But I thought, I mean, it was him whom I talked to about all this! I thought he'd be the one tutoring me!"

"Well, normally, he would. But this time he thought it'd be best to let someone else take charge."

"And this _someone else_ would be…?"

"Hey, Ju-Ju!" An elegant voice called as a figure stepped through the entrance of their hollow. Jewel looked happy at the sight of their visitor.  
Turned around to face the intruding macaw, knowing too well just who that was.

"Oh, Roberto!" Jewel greeted. "We were just talking about you."

"Were we?!" Whatever sense of confidence Blu had about this was slowly slipping.

"Oh, really? Well, that's funny, I was just done talking to your dad about you two!" Roberto made his way inside Blu and Jewel's home. No longer sharing Roberto's own oversized hollow, Blu and his family had made themselves comfortable in a modestly-sized space within another tree. It took a while for their kids to get used to the new place and stop missing _uncle Beto's_ luxurious living quarters, into which they were more than welcomed into. Blu, however, couldn't be any happier to not having to be greeted by him every morning.

"Oh, hello, Roberto." Blu brought himself to give greet him.

Roberto's attention turned to him. "Hey hey, _Tylerino! _Just the bird I was looking for!"

"…did you just call me, _Tylerino?!_"

"Yeah, Tyler is your real name, isn't it? Jewel told me about it the other day. I think it's pretty neat!"

Blu glanced at Jewel, who seemed slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry, but he wouldn't stop nagging me about it!"

He had tried his best, but he simply couldn't get used to the Favio-with-feathers' presence. Not even after coming into good terms with the tribe, especially Eduardo, there simply was something about Roberto that bugged Blu to no end. His pompous show-off attitude and the way he constantly spoiled his children, making him look like a bad father in contrast, was irritating to say the least.

Before Blu could make a reply, he saw Roberto stepping in next to him. "Oh, I'm sure you don't mind, right, buddy?"

"Well, to be honest, I'd preffer Blu, thank you very much."  
_And I'm not your buddy_, he thought.

The worst part, however, was how, despite saving his tail feathers from that bulldozer and leading the macaws into driving off the loggers time ago, Roberto continued to his passively-aggressively treating him like a clueless rookie, a weakling and a straight up loser, without ever dropping that smug telenovela-pretty-boy grin of his and pretending to be genuinely nice to him. But Blu could see beyond that guano that he was merely trying to make himself great looking by making him look lame in turn.

"Alright, if you prefer it that way." Roberto let out a small chuckle. "So, are you ready for our three days at the side-grove?"

"Sorry, _our _three days?"

This time Roberto let a bigger laugh. "Well, duh. You don't really expect to learn survival all on your own without your teacher, do you?"

It was at that moment when Blu put two and two together.

The realization shattered any hopes he had for the days ahead of him.

"Y-you?! You're gonna be tutoring _me?!"_

"Yeah, about that, Blu." Jewel stepped in. "As you know, Roberto is my father's right-wing and the next to take his place as the tribe chief. So…he only thought it'd make sense to let him start taking over some of his duties, such as giving young macaws the survival course."

"That's right. So we're both pretty much first-timers at this, Blu!" Roberto affirmed. "So, are you ready then?"

"Uh..."

"_I_ am ready!" A younger voice shouted from above.  
Making a sudden entrance, Tiago landed between his parents, striking a tough pose and displaying a hastily put on war-like face paint. "I'm going too, uncle Beto!"

"Nuh-uh, no you're not, Tiago." Jewel gently pulled her young offspring back away.

"Aw, mom! Why?" His begging eyes went to Roberto. "Uncle Beto, pleeeeeease?"

"Sorry, T-bird! Only when you've grown up a little. These excursions are for adolescent birds only."

"But dad isn't an adolescent! Why is he going?"

"Actually, that is a good point!" Blu spoke up. "I'm not an adolescent, so why am _I_ going?"

"Blu!" Jewel scolded.

"Don't sweat it, Blu. Eduardo and I agreed we'd make an exception with you."

"_Sweat it? _But I wasn't even-"

"So!" Roberto interrupted. "Are you ready then?"

"Er…I-"

"Yes, you are!" Jewel encouraged as he pushed him forward.  
At this point, he knew he would have no choice.

"Alright, then let's go!" And with that, Roberto dragged Blu with him out the hollow, forcing him into open his wings and fly. Right after, Roberto took off and took the lead in front of him. "Seeya, Ju-Ju! Later, T-bird!"

"Um, bye honey! Bye Tiago! Tell Carla and Bia I'll see them in three days!"

"Goodbye! Have a good time!" Jewel and her son waved to the two male macaws as they flew away into the distance.

"Mom", Tiago turned to her mother once the two adult males were gone, "do me and my sisters really need to stay with aunt Mimi?" He whined.

"Sorry, dear, but it's already been decided." She petted the chick's scruffy back. "But don't worry, ok? I'll be back home as soon as your dad is."

* * *

Left behind were the vivid colors of the macaws' sanctuary. Blu reluctantly followed Roberto deeper into the jungle. He had been too focused on not losing the bird in front of him from sight to study his surroundings.  
He was way past the point where the idea of making a turn and silently sneaking back into the village without getting completely lost would have had any success.

"Here we are!" Roberto announced. He slowed down and soon he landed on a tall branch.  
Blu followed and perched himself at the same spot.  
"Welcome to the side-grove!"

Taking a look at his surroundings, there was a number of things that caught Blu's attention.  
Or rather, the _lack_ of them is what took his attention. For the starters, everything felt quite…silent.  
It wasn't dead silent, but there was a distinctive lack of noise produced by animals. No sound of any other birds in particular. Either they were hiding very well, or there weren't any to begin with…  
It wasn't as if the place looked inhabitable either, however. The grove was full of dense green lush everywhere, with trees as tall as they were anywhere else in the jungle…but there really wasn't a lot of color in the area. Not a single flower or fruit he could see from anywhere nearby.

"So…what's this place?"

"It's strange, isn't it? The side-grove is one of the most peaceful parts of the jungle. Hardly any animal knows of it and even those who do, like us, don't really come here often, let alone live in it."

"And why is that?"

"It's simple: there's hardly any food in here. The plants here all taste bland and have little nutrients for you, unless you're an insect. No fruits for birds like us either. So that drives away a good number of prey animals out of here. No prey, no reason for land predators to lose their time here. Really, you'd only want to live here if you were a caterpillar."

"And this helps me learn about survival how…?"

Roberto sighed, knowing he had to be patient with the never-ending source of complaints that Blu was known for be amongst the tribe. "Precisely because of that: there's very little resources for us that surviving one day alone becomes a challenge, let alone three of them!"  
He shortened the distance between them. As he walked closer to him, he enlarged his posture, forcing Blu into a slow retreat as his own body lowered.  
"You won't be learning how to escape human traps, or how to avoid getting eaten by crocodiles. No Blu. For the next three days, you'll learn to survive against the most powerful adversary in the Amazon: mother nature herself!"

Blu realized the position Roberto had forced him into: standing low against the other macaw's taller, dominating stand.  
He _knew_ he was doing it on purpose.

"Yeah, whatever." Blu lifted up his posture, trying not to show any hint of intimidation. "So what's our first lesson, _mestro_? Learning how to find the way back to the village?"

Roberto chuckled with amusement. "Oh, you wish, Blu. That'll actually be our very last lesson."

"What?!"

"Come on, you didn't think you were the first trainee who planned to flee back to the village, did you? That's why we don't tell the little ones how to return until they course is over."

Blu looked frantically at everything around him, hoping that there'd be the slightest hint that could help him trace his way back home. Yet no matter where he looked at, everything looked so unfamiliar, unrecognizable. Everything started to appear like an eerie maze. Were those two branches part of the same tree or were from different ones? Are those leaves in the ground growing taller by the second? Was Roberto sure that there wasn't another reason why nobody chose to come here? The paranoia slowly invaded him…

"Hey, relax." He felt Roberto's wing pulling him close.  
Uncomfortably close.  
"Just stay close to me and everything is going to be fine."

He felt Roberto's blue eyes piercing his own stare.  
What was he trying to prove with all this? Trying to act oh so superior and strong, wanting to make Blu feel like some wimp who couldn't survive without someone like him? Someone strong, fearless, graceful, athletic and incredibly, almost impossibly, handsome and attractive.  
Man, everything about him. That voice, that body, that elegant tuff of feathers on his head…  
…how he envied them.

"Well," Roberto stepped back, "I hope you're ready as you can be Blu, because lesson one of survival begins…now!"


	2. Dumb berries

A.N.

As I said, chapters will be getting longer.

Goes without saying, but R&Rs are very appreciated!

* * *

**Lessons**

**Chapter 2: Dumb berries  
**

* * *

"I thought you said I'd not learn to escape predators!"  
Flapping his dirtied wings with all his might, Blu tried to outrun the much more skilled flyer hot on his tail.

"You're not learning to escape from a predator! You're learning to blend into the environment!"

"I thought Eduardo had already taught me that!"

"Then let's see if you really learned!"

"How am I supposed to blend in when you're after me?!" Between his panting, Blu managed to reply. The dirt that covered his whole body, hiding all blue in his plumage, had served naught to avoid being spotted by Roberto when he had gone on his lookout.

"Sorry, but that's up to you, not me!"

In a desperate attempt, Blu dived into the lower grass, hoping that he could somehow get lost from view in there. Unfortunately, the rustling his movement caused made it easy for Roberto to track him and, soon enough, he was yanked out before being pinned against the ground.

"Three times already, Blu. Getting tired so soon?"

"I still fail to see any learning value in all these lessons!" Blu groaned.

"That's because you haven't learned anything yet. "He let go off his grasp, allowing Blu to get up right away. "If you had learned something during the last four lessons we've had, I wouldn't have pinned you down again just now."

"Phuh, you sure love pinning me down." He scuffed.  
It had been two hours or so (neither of them thought hard on keeping track of time) since they had set foot in the grove, but just a half an hour after their first lesson began and Blu couldn't bear another second of it.  
He'd very much prefer going through Eduardo's intensive training all over again over another 69 hours of what he was having right now.  
"And why blame me? Has it never occurred to you that your teaching methods are purely outdated?"

"Oh, yeah, outdated. Because none of the young birds who have gone through them during the last twenty years didn't come out a stronger and braver bird thanks to it." Roberto gave a confident retort. "Has it ever occurred to you that your complaining is pure nonsense?"

"Oh yeah, sure, I give a honest critique, and all of a sudden I'm com-"

A sudden noise interrupted.

There was a slight rustling noise in the trees.

Blu's whole body stiffened.  
"W-w-what was t-that?"

"What was what, Blu?"

_Grrroaarrr_

The amber-eyed macaw started to shiver. "R-Roberto! You said there'd be no p-predators!"

_Grrroaaarrrr_

"Roberto!"  
Blu panicked, looking all around him in fear that a panther or worse would jump out of the grass and devour him.  
"What IS that!?"

Roberto sighed in dismay.  
Why wasn't he terrified like he was?!

And then Roberto poked at Blu's belly.

_Grrroaaarrr, _he heard the loud sound again…  
...coming out of his stomach.

"Oh…"

Blu turned away, trying to hide his deep embarrassment from the other macaw, whom he could hear already chuckling in amusement.  
"W-well what did you expect? You dragged me into this place before I could get anything to eat!"

"Well, that was that idea, because that's what your next lesson will be about: eating."

Blu surveyed the grove once again. Still no sight of anything properly edible in the vicinity. "And where's the food?"

"That, Blu, _is_ what you'll have to figure out."

Blu scowled.  
He debated whether or not starving to death would be preferable over putting up with whatever was after this.

* * *

One hour later and Blu hadn't found anything that he'd dare call a proper lunch.  
Having Roberto watching over him from distance and putting a load of unneeded pressure on him only made his starving more painful that it normally would.

Why didn't he just turn away the moment he stopped seeing color in the plants on their way here?

It came clear that at this rate, he'd see the ground as he fainted out of hunger before seeing anything that could feed him well, so he was driven to do something he'd curse himself for having to do in order to kill the ache in his hungry stomach.

Mustering all his will, he tried not to think of the horrible taste of ants, earthworms and plain leaves that he forced himself to ingest.  
The hardest past wasn't simply trying to swallow as it was trying not to vomit after they went in.

And before he knew it, those in-the-meantime snacks ended up filling up his stomach, effectively killing his hunger for good.

The stuffed macaw plummeted into the ground, given up in his (somewhat literally) fruitless search, and feeling nauseous from all the disgusting things that were now being processed in his digestive system.

"Hmm, not bad!" Roberto complimented from above. "I almost feared you'd let yourself starve or something!"

Blu couldn't even see him, his eyes fixed on the top of the trees towering above him, trying to catch his breath. His stomach felt more bloated than that day he ate a whole pancake in a timespan of no more than 20 seconds.

…what was that squishing sound he was hearing?

Blu raised his head to look at Roberto standing on a branch, lying comfortably against the tree.  
He held something round, purple and plump on his talon.  
Something tasty.  
He was eating from it, making juicy sounds as he did.

"Hey, where did you get that from?"

"Oh, thish?" The blue-eyed macaw spoke with a full mouth before swallowing. "I managed to spot one growing from a vine while you were helping yourself with some ants." He took another bite, his beak smiling with delight from the sweet flavor of the berry. "Shorry, tho. It wash the only one I founth."His speech was muffled again by the fruit that piled on his tongue.

"Pleh, you wouldn't have shared it anyway."

Roberto took one last bite and finished the berry before gliding down to ground level, landing next to Blu. "Hey, what are you so bitter about? You just passed your lesson!"

"Passed? I couldn't find any of those dumb berries!"

"No, but that was not the test, Blu. It wasn't about finding a berry, it was about finding _food_." His wing pointed at a line of ants marching into their colony.

Blu lifted himself up to a sitting position. "How can you call _that_ food?!"

"How is it not? Our species are omnivorous. It's natural that we feel the urge to eat those things if we have to."

Blu recalled a certain unpleasant memory of Jewel eating and swallowing a fly in mid-flight. A FLY.  
He shuddered at the recall.  
"It's disgusting!" He decried as he got himself back on his feet. "What other reason do you need?!"

Roberto dropped his smile with a sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Blu, do you want to know what your problem is? You keep rejecting your instincts. Your natural impulses." He began to walk in circles around Blu as he lectured him. "When you need to blend in the environment, you don't waste time trying to find a good hiding spot: you just hide where you know you can hide! When you're hungry, you don't analyze what food is going to give you the most nutrients and please your taste buds the most: you just eat what you know you can eat!"

Blu crossed his wings. What was he, some little kid in time out? Who was he to speak to him like that?  
"Well excuse _me_ if I don't enjoy the life of a savage."

"… did you just say _savage_?" Roberto did not seem to like the use of that term one bit.

_Good_. Blu mused. _I'm starting to push some buttons._

"Yup. Besides, I am very capable of obeying my instincts well enough, thank you."

"Oh yeah?" Blu's challenge was starting to make Roberto lose a bit of his cool. "Prove it."

"Well, I haven't consumed a single ounce of human produced food ever since I moved here."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, and that clay you use for digestion? I've just started to give it a try and I don't mind it. So there! I can actually do what you guys do and obey my 'instincts'". He made a gesture with his wing feathers, signaling his sarcasm.

Roberto wasn't impressed by any it. If Blu could call any of those 'feats' admirable then he was more pathetic than he imagined.  
He wasn't going to keep hearing any of this. Now it was him who turned his back at Blu.

The amber-eyed macaw felt triumphant at last. He had _finally_ shushed that show-off.

Roberto spun back aggressively, raised his wings and shrieked a loud "CWAKAH!"

"Gah!" Not seeing it coming, Blu stumbled in a scared flinch and fell bottom-first against the ground.

"Hum, just as I thought."

"What was that scare for?!" Blu felt his racing heart lowering down its beat.

"Well, if you really obeyed your instincts as you so claim, then you'd definitely not be in the ground. You'd be in one of those trees up there."

"Because…?" Blu couldn't make sense of his words.

"When we feel a threat, we don't fall on our rears cowering like idiots. We fly! We take off to safety! You think these wings are just decoration? We use them!"

"Well, so what if I've never had to use them to escape before?" He half-lied. Though he couldn't recall a specific moment where he should have, he'd hate to admit that had he ever been in a situation like that before, he'd not be there right now. "But anyway, now I know, so I can take off whenever I feel threatened again, thank you very much." His thanks were forced.

"That better be." Roberto faced away from him. "Come on. On to your next lesson."

Blu followed reluctantly. "Ever heard of something called 'a break'? Because judging by how fast we go from a lesson to another, the concept must be too alien for yo-"

"CWAKARAKAH!" Roberto shrieked even louder this time, shaking his large wings with aggressive movements.

"YAAH!" Blu fell on his back this time with a loud thud, his eyes still wide from the shock.

That sight. Roberto couldn't hold it. It was simply too amusing.  
He bursted into laughter.

Blu's back hurt from the impact, but no more than his pride was starting to ache now.

"Oh, Blu! You're unbelievable!" He said between laughs, gasping for air as his outburst continued.

That laughter.  
Oh, how Blu hated hearing it.  
Not even the thought of not having the other macaws joining the mockery lessened the blow in his pride.  
He had embarrassed him, humiliated him, made a fool out of him so many times before and each and every time he had to shrug it off and put up with it.

But not this time. He had enough.

"You know what? Screwthis! I am DONE!" And with that, he took off and flew quickly to no direction in particular.

"Huh?" Roberto's laughter was cut immediately. "Wait, where do you think you're going?" He flew himself up and went after him. "Come back!"

"Nah-ah, I'm heading back to the village." With his view fixed to his front, he kept flying forward.

"But you don't know where you're going! That's not even the right way!"

"Oh, really? Thank you!" Blu mocked as he turned back and flew to the opposite direction. "See you in three days!"

Roberto felt sheepish. That obnoxious whiny bird was trying trick him into showing him the way back.  
He tried to be patient with him, he really did, but Blu had just proved himself to be simply unchangeable.  
He stopped in mid-air. He wasn't going to even bother.

"Well fine! Go get lost! But when you come back here crying, you better not have the nerve to beg me not to tell Jewel!"

"Oh no, please, don't tell on my wife! She's going to ground me!" Blu insulted the threat in a mocking tone. "Do whatever! See if I give a guano!" Blu's voice sounded distant. His figure faded amongst the trees.

Roberto perched on a tall branch.  
Flying back to the village and leave Blu to his luck was tempting, he had to admit, but staying there and wait for Blu to inevitably come back to him pleading for forgiveness felt like a much more rewarding alternative.  
A devilish grin formed in his beak. He couldn't wait to see the priceless look on those amber eyes.

And so he waited.

And waited.

And waited…

And waited even more…

Waited…

…

* * *

Where was he?

How long had he been waiting already?  
Roberto had lost track of time. How long had it been since Blu went out of sight?

He didn't expect him to last this long, that'd he be flying back already.

He felt his impatience grow into a little bit of concern.

_No no_. Roberto reminded himself. _Let him. He's bound to come back sooner or later._

But was he?

What if something did happen to him?  
Did he leave the grove and escaped to the depths of the jungle?  
Did he actually run into something dangerous?

_Come on, he wouldn't be THAT stupid. He's probably crying to himself already, but otherwise fine._

But what if, in a hypothetical scenario, something did happen to him?

What was he going to tell Jewel?!

Letting their feud abandon his thoughts, Roberto dashed into air to the direction Blu had gone to.

"Blu!" He began to call. "Blu! Where are you?" His voice rang across the grove. There still wasn't a sign of any other birds around. That'd have come useful since he was certain that if he asked an insect about a blue macaw that just flew by, they'd not be able to reply back.

"Blu, come on, don't scare me like this!" There was no sight of him. Where did he go? Where was _he_ going? Did he really leave the side-grove altogether? There's no way he could survive the actual jungle all by himself! "Blu, come out! Where are-"

And then he found him.  
Down at ground level. Lying unconscious.

"Blu!" He dived his way down until he landed next to him. "Blu, are you alright?"  
He examined him: his body seemed fine, no signs of wounds, nor scratches nor cuts nor bruises, no strange substance drooling from his beak and he was breathing. He seemed to be just fine. Well, aside from being irresponsive.

"Hello? Blu?" He shook him. "Say something!"

"Guuuuh…" Blu started to groan, his eyes opening narrowly. "uuh...kids, could you give me five more minutes, please…?"

He slapped him.

"Ow!" Now he was properly awake.

"What were you thinking, Blu? You could have gotten killed out there!"

"Oww, my head…" The amber-eyed macaw whined while rubbing his scalp.

"Oh come on, I didn't slap you that hard."

"It wasn't your slap! I think it's from that branch I crashed into."

Roberto looked above. A long and very thick tree branch hovered directly above Blu's position.  
"Don't tell me you knocked yourself out by flying into _that_ branch! How could you not see it coming?"

He was anticipating one of Blu's excuses.  
But surprisingly, none came.  
"I don't know. I just wasn't paying attention, I guess…"

Roberto couldn't feel his relief over how bothered he felt to know this what he was fretting about just now.

Sensing the blue-eyed macaw growing upset, Blu got himself up and backed away from. "Ok, I admit it!" He rambled. "I'm absolutely helpless. I don't really know anything about survival and I shouldn't have flown away by myself. There, you heard it. Are you content?"

Roberto did indeed feel content.

He revealed his emotion with a pleased, triumphant grin.

There was simply no way to win against that smug pretty boy…  
"Ugh, just tell me when the next lesson starts. The faster we go through this, the faster these three days will pass."

Roberto had been too focused on Blu's little humiliation that he wasn't noticing that the sun was beginning to fall. Once the sunset caught his attention, he knew what was next in plan.

"Very well, because your next lesson starts right now."

"Ok, next time, just tell me when you plan to give us some real to rest instead."

* * *

It was past dusk when Blu had finished arranging a pack of gathered twigs and leaves into a makeshift tent on top of the canopies. He looked at it from the outside, proud of his work.

Roberto looked at it much less enthusiastically.

"What, not good enough, _teacher_?"

"You actually think that thing will keep you safe?"

"Of course it will! The leaves at the top permeate all rain and morning sunlight, the wooden walls make a shield from the wind. It's perfect!"

_Plop_.  
A single misplaced piece was all the structure needed to fall apart and be gone in an instant.

Roberto smirked, unimpressed.

"Well, I didn't see you doing any better!" Blu defied.

"There's no need. Nature provides all the refuges we need. All we need to do is to go look out for it."

"Yeah, perhaps you already forgot the 40 minutes I spent looking for a decent hollow before I began collecting twigs and leaves."

"Really? I don't think I saw you look out hard enough during said 40 minutes."

"Well I don't I saw _you_ look out for anything at all!"

"Excuse me, but _who_ is being put to test here again?"

Blu wanted a snappy response to come out his beak really bad, but he only managed a groan.

"If I waste all my night looking for holes in trees, don't expect my lack of sleep to cooperate well tomorrow." Blu flapped his way to another tree. Not so much to start looking again but as to simply get away from his unbearable tutor.

"Tsk tsk, excuses excuses." Roberto chided. This was going to be entertaining. Having accustomed his body to small sleeping periods, he could bear watching Blu tiring himself all night on yet another fruitless search.

"Oh, hey! Look, I found one!" He heard Blu's echoing voice claim.

"What?"  
Roberto hurried to the other macaw's position.  
He had to be kidding. So soon?

But he was right: a hollow formation inside a tree.

"Well, finders, keepers." Blu announced, hurrying into his newfound refuge and making himself comfortable in it.  
Roberto took a look from outside.  
It was a small space, but the other macaw seemed to be cozying in it just fine.

Such a small space. How did he manage to be comfortable?  
So small and tight.  
Did he not feel constrained by the lack of room?  
It was a small hollow.  
A small, enclosed space…

Instinctively, Roberto stepped away from the hollow.

"Huh? What's it now?" Blu peeked out from the little hollow, quizzically at the nervous blue-eyed macaw.

Roberto shook himself out of his little trance. "N-nothing. I, uh…" He made a pause to clear his throat. "I guess you passed another test. Congratulations, Blu."

"Yeah, thanks, whatever." His eyes caught a glimpse of something below in the tree. "Oh look, there's another one down there."

Roberto looked down. There was indeed another hollow.  
A _smaller _hollow.  
He could see himself barely fitting in there.  
Unable to expand his wings if he needed to.  
Only having the bare minimum to get himself in and out.  
It was such a small, small space…

"I, eh…" Roberto shuddered, unable to formulate a proper sentence.

"You, eh…?"

"I…I think I'm sleeping outside tonight."

"What?" Blu look baffled. "You mean, out in the open?"

"Y-yeah! I mean-" He paused again, trying to recompose himself. "Sleep in that refuge of yours if you like. Not a bad decision, but to truly survive in the jungle is to truly being able to endure yourself against the elements." He flew his up to a tall branch, lying against the wood.

"Ok, good luck with the mosquitoes then." Blu said starkly before huddling himself back into the hollow. "And so help you if it rains. Goodnight."

"Oh, I don't fret. The rains aren't coming just yet. I've been counting the days." He heard him reply faintly. "Goodnight."

What was it with that bird and his constant urge to prove himself like some apex specimen? Was he expecting some kind of award? A medal, perhaps?  
And why was _he_ the only one having to put up with his douchyness? Why was he the sole target for his mistreatment?  
Why did whatever forces of nature that were behind the creation of all beings had to bestow all those good looks and skills to someone like _him?_

There was a sudden rustling in the leaves.  
Was that Roberto?

"Blu, was that you?" He heard him ask. There was no other bird but the two of them so if it had been anyone it had to be Roberto.  
But the source of the two sounds, the rustling and the other macaw's voice, came from opposite directions…

"No. Was that you?" Blu replied.

"Nope." Was all he answered. "Just wanted to make sure. Night."

And their conversation ended.  
Finally.  
Another word from that macaw's voice and…

He tried not cling on all the negative emotions that pent up through the day. Even though that called for a massive effort.  
Rather, Blu focused on enjoying whatever peace he could get from tonight's sleep. Or at least try to.

Keeping Roberto out of his head the best he could, Blu eventually drifted away into slumber…

* * *

Blu was having the strangest dream he had had in a long time.

There were two cavemen dressed in blue loincloths. One was very tall, buff and very attractive, while the other was short, slender and a bit off-putting. They almost looked like the mascots from one of those cereals he used to eat for breakfast back in Minessotta. Perhaps that's from where his mind was getting their image from.

The two cavemen were always bickering and pitting one another at different competitions, some of them borderline absurd. In most of them, the bigger caveman won. The smaller could only look in jealousy and humiliation. However, there was a few times where, against all odds, the smaller caveman would win, while the bigger one, obviously upset, tried to act like it was no big deal.

However, during the last competition, something strange happened: a giant pterodactyl (whose mere presence would have bugged the hell out of Blu's disapproval for historical incongruences) came down and tried to grab the larger caveman. The smaller caveman tried to pull him back before he could be taken. This only caused the bigger caveman's skin to be ripped away by the flying predator. Rather than exposing his living flesh, however, it turned out that beneath all that muscle and good looks, there was a smaller, puny looking caveman. Ashamed of having his true self revealed, the once larger caveman started to cry.

Rather than laughing at his former foes' misery, however, the smaller caveman instead took pity. He then ripped of his own skin and revealed a nicer-looking caveman underneath that looked nearly the same as the other, only still shorter.

The shorter caveman comforted the other with a big hug.  
All of a sudden the two seemed to be good friends.

And not a second later they started making out…

"Gwah!" Blu awoke from the shock of the awkward image, bumping his head against the 'ceiling' of his little refuge. "Ow."  
He hoped that last mental image wouldn't haunt him for the next days, having too many things to put up with ahead of him.  
It must have been all those earthworms…

As he rubbed his aching head, he heard mumbles from his neighbor above.

"There there…" He heard Roberto whisper in a sleepy voice. "Everything is ok, son…"

Curious, Blu peeked out from the hollow and looked up. He found Roberto lying against the tree and still sleeping.

"That's my girl…come here, who are daddy's little beautiful creatures?" Even though he was clearly sleep-talking, he could tell there was some genuine tenderness in the words he spoke. Genuine tenderness, affection…  
"We have the most wonderful chicks in the world…" He said to someone in his head. "But now, it's just you and me, sweet bird…"

He saw the macaw above shuffling himself around his space, saying his next words in between…moaning? "Hmm, yes…that's how I like it…give it to me…"

"Augh, God!" Blu tried using his wings to block the moaning, but unfortunately, they didn't turn out to be very sound-proof at all.  
It seemed like he was going to be subject of this all night.

"I'm all yours, big boy…"

…just who was he dreaming with?

No, he was _not_ going to wonder.  
Whoever he was fantasizing about was _none_ of his business.  
He'd rather keep watching cavemen having French kisses in his head rather than hearing Roberto having a wet dream. At least with the former he'd be able to get some shuteye.

"…wait, where are we going?" The sleep-talking Roberto continued. "Who…who are you? Where are you taking me?"

Blu looked up. Roberto was squirming.

"N-no. Not there. Please, not there!".  
He began to sound despaired…  
"Don't put me in there! No! Please, no!"  
His flailing became more desperate. "Oh no. Not that! I beg you, don't give me that!"  
And then he woke up. "Polly doesn't want crackers!"

Gasping for air and eyes wide open, he became fully aware of his current space and time.  
He sighed relieved. He was at the side-grove. Everything was fine…

His breathing came back to normal and rested down again, unaware that Blu watched him from below.  
Still uneasy, Roberto shut his eyes, hoping to catch some rest.  
He remained silent the rest of the night.

Enjoying the new peace and quiet, Blu went back to sleep too.

Luckily, the two cavemen did not pop up again in his dreams.

He remained curious as to what the deal with Roberto was, though.

A small part of him hoped he'd be alright.


	3. Fishticuffs

A.N.

For those who might be wondering about why this fic doesn't quite feel M rated yet, next chapter will start to merit its rating.

Until then, though, have an even longer chapter than the last one!

* * *

**Lessons**

**Chapter 3: Fishticuffs**

The morning sunlight managed to creep its way into Blu's little hollow, bugging his eyes until he woke up, very reluctantly so.

As Blu walked out of the hole, he let out a large yawn, trying to stretch his wings.  
Key word: tried.  
Somehow, he only managed to stretch his right one…  
His left wing felt constrained by something.

"Huh? Wha?" He glanced at his wing.  
It was tied up by a vine.

"Oh, for beak's sake."

"Rise and shine, trainee!" Roberto announced as he landed in front of him. Judging by the direction he was coming from, he must have been gone somewhere else.  
Of course, after he was done tying him up while he was still sleeping.

"Alright, care to explain this?" Blu gestured his constrained wing. "If this is your idea of a prank then ha-ha, I laughed, now if you had your laugh too already I'm cutting this off right-"

"Nuh-uh, no prank here. _That _is part of your next lesson Blu."

Blu already had the vine on his beak when he stopped to glance at him. "Wha?"

"Yup, so don't even think about cutting it down." After he finished, he took a bite on one of those berries he had found the other day.

"Let me guess, I'm gonna have to find my own breakfast again, won't I?"

"Eh, not quite."  
Roberto jumped off the branch and glided all the way down to the ground.  
"Get down here and I'll explain it to you!"

It was too early for Blu to be dealing with all this guano already.  
"Jewel, Blu. You told Jewel you'd do this..." He reminded himself.  
It wouldn't be enough, he knew, but at least that gave him enough will to start jumping from branch to branch all the way down to the ground, where Roberto awaited him.

* * *

He took him to another tree further into the grove. Just how large was this place exactly? Or was his lack of awareness about the area that made it seem like it was a lot bigger than it really was?

Roberto pointed up to the top of the tall tree. Blu had to squint just to make out whatever he was supposed to be looking at.  
And there they were: sprouting from the vines at the top, a few of those berries.

"So, now that I found my food, my lesson is supposed to be what again?"

Roberto chuckled.  
He could tell there was a terrible catch waiting for him.

"Well, let's pretend for a moment that your wing had just been injured. That you broke it."

_Well thank GOODNESS you didn't really break_. Blu mused. _Though I bet you considered it._

"In a position like that, you'd still need to feed yourself. Can't let a crippled wing let you starve. So, today, Blu, your first lesson will be getting your food without using both wings. Which means, no flying."

"…all the way up there?"  
Suddenly, it seemed like the tree was growing a lot taller.

"Yup."

He guessed there'd be no other route but the climbing route.

Once he was right in front of it, Blu examined the jagged outside of the tree's trunk. Before he even ventured his way up, he wanted to ensure it was even feasible to climb at all.

He wasn't ignorant. He knew many birds were capable of grabbing from trees just fine, his species included.  
But climbing up _all _the way up a tree that tall? Without getting any aid from his wings, it'd take a large sum of effort.

"Anytime." Roberto said from behind.

Good, then maybe he could just stand there and stall for time until the sun went down once more.

_Groaaarr.  
_Blu didn't need a second guess to know where that noise was coming from this time.  
Unfortunately, if he wanted to nourish himself today with something that didn't make him gag, he had to get up there and grab some of that fruit.  
Plus he wasn't going to give that pretty boy the satisfaction of watching him fail.

Without thinking it anymore, he dug his talon into the tree's cortex and began to climb up.  
Then took in the next step.

…this wasn't so bad.

In fact, it felt almost too easy.  
Sure, he was hardly above the ground just now, but he marveled at the simplicity of it.  
What was he fretting about just moments ago? All he had to was repeat the process a few, say, eighty times and he'd be done.  
And of course, not look down _at all_.

Mustering some strength, he began his climb.  
Slow and steady at first, he picked up a good pace.  
It really was a simple process, almost mechanical. Where was the difficulty in all this?

Roberto looked in awe at how easily Blu was making his way up.  
Judging by his poor performance the other day, he did not expect him to be able to pull it off so easy, that he'd not be able to do something as natural as climbing up a tree. How would he not? The bird was an imbecile at everything birds were meant to do. He could not expect him performing otherwise.  
Yet there he was, making his climb, quickly and precisely, in an almost mechanical fashion.

_Halfway through_. He thought. _Halfway through he'd make a mistake and, you'll see, he'll be freaking out!_ He hoped. He could see the desperate on look on that face of his already…

Past the halfway point and Blu kept his eyes fixed at the top of the tree.  
Just where did he get that confidence all of the sudden?

He was almost at the vines…  
Roberto flapped his wings and raced to the top.  
He wasn't gonna let Blu see him at the top before he did!

But Blu was climbing pretty fast.  
Not even _he_ could climb that fast!

Disgracefully for him, he watched as Blu made it to the top at last and, proudly, helped himself with some berries.  
There he was, waiting for him.

"Oh hey, you made it!" Blu said casually after munching on the fruit.  
Roberto could tell just exactly what he was trying to convey. "Want some?" He offered him one of the berries.  
He was trying to switch the roles now. He was trying to make _him_ the fool.

"No thanks." He declined. "I ate already."

"Oh, ok. More for me. Yay!" He bit on the second berry without having finished the first one.

"Yes yes. Just finish off quickly. Your next lesson will start soon." He turned his back on him, trying to hide his straight face cracking into annoyance.

He could not see a triumphantly smug grin forming on Blu's beak.

* * *

There was a body of water in the grove after all. A stream. A small branching of the Amazon river, Blu assumed. It only made sense, seeing there was a lot of vegetation in the area.

The workout he had gotten from the climbing combined with the heat had left Blu dehydrated, so as soon as Roberto had led him to the water he went straight for it. He had to kill his thirst right away.

"Ah-ah." He was halted by Roberto, who pulled him from his tail feathers. "Hold it."

"What now?!"

"Trust me." He jerked him back, making him fall on his rear, away from the water. "You don't want to drink from there."

"Hey! Why not? Water seems perfectly clean to me."

Roberto grabbed a small pebble and threw it over the water.

Before it even touched the water, a group of piranhas jumped out and fought each other violently over the rock.  
Though the sight was brief, it was all Blu needed to see to leave him shocked.

"What happened to NO predators?!"

"I said no _land_ predators."

"Pft, of course. Always the fine print." Blu didn't have to guess to figure he was withholding this information intentionally. "So what's my lesson, become a walking raisin?"

"Come over here."  
Roberto led him to a large gap beneath a tree's exposed roots. It looked like a small grotto of sorts.  
In middle of the little quasi-cavern, a little droplet fell from its ceiling and splashed into the tiny puddle beneath.

Humidity, Blu remembered from the days he used to watch nature channels, would dampen the inside of small spaces like this and would cause water excess to drop from the ceiling. Well, it was something like that. Living away from a human home must have made him forget a few details of information.

Roberto went inside it, standing inches in front of the falling droplets. "When you really need to get hydrated, you wouldn't care how or where you get water from. Even if it's from little droplets like these, water is water. You take it or you don't."  
Only now Blu was starting to notice the incredibly long gaps of time between each drop that fell.

"But it could take _hours_ just to drink what I could get from back there in seconds!"

"Well, if you don't mind being a piranha's lunch, then be my guest. Otherwise, you're short on choices. Now, while you make up your mind, I'll be helping myself." And with that, Roberto opened wide and let the droplets slowly, very slowly, fall into his beak.  
With eyes closed, he remained motionless, letting the water slide down his throat, little by little...

How long would Blu have to be in that position just cool off his tongue? A whole hour perhaps?

There had to be another way.  
Boy, times like this he wished he had a bit of the easy live again, back when he could drink a fine glass of orange juice from a straw. Three seconds and his body would be fresh in middle of the summer heat.

Wait…that was it!  
With a brilliant idea in mind, Blu left Roberto alone 'drinking'.

Roberto opened his eye to see his trainee abandoning him. There was no way he was fully bailing out of that one, however. He was bound to return unless he thought he would survive without water all of a sudden.

But as soon as he heard some strange noises outside, he couldn't help but grow curious.

Roberto left his spot and went back to find Blu standing in front of the small river.

"What the?"

With little effort, Blu had managed to roll up a large leaf into a long tube and used it as an improvised straw that extended all the way into the water from a safe position, suctioning the water straight into his beak.

The blue-eyed macaw was perplexed. He was so sure Blu would not be able to find a way around this one there he was, doing it just that.  
This day was not starting out as he expected it.

Blu finished, letting out a satisfied exhalation. He even wiped the excess of water off his beak. "Man, I don't know if I'll have to drink all day after this." He turned to find Roberto staring in awe. "Oh, you done? If you need some more, you can always do one of these, you know!" He said with such causality. "It's easy. All you need is-"

"Actually, I'm not finished yet. Thank you." Roberto turned back into the grotto, unwilling to surrender his pride over an easy access to water. He'd rather get the difficult way. _His_ way. Not the way of that meek, good-for-nothing macaw.

Blu stared at him once more with triumph.  
Whatever the next test was, he was ready to tackle it on.

* * *

Swiftly, Blu jumped from a branch to another, now sprinting through a different tree. Climbing up, he got to a taller branch and ran across it before doing another jump: without assistance from his wings, he crossed the gap and made it to the next one.

He had lost count of many of them he had just moved from and to, but they had to be at least ten of them. Not bad for the time he had been running. And he didn't feel completely busted up yet either. He was panting, sure, and his talons were starting to get a bit sore, but he felt he could endure running a little more. All those years of having to use his legs for moving with minimal aid from wings, Blu realized, had paid off with a stronger lower body strength than he remembered having.

The same couldn't be said about his so called instructor, who by the sixth tree already needed an extra lift from his wings to make it to the seventh and beyond.

Roberto struggled to climb up to Blu's altitude. He could easily just take off and use his wings to get up as macaws were naturally meant to. His species were not meant to use their legs as main method of movement like chickens or ostriches.  
Yet he saw Blu, running like the wind without a single flap.  
The test was meant to see how long would he last moving across trees with nothing but his lower limbs before he could catch him. He was certain that by the fourth tree he'd already gotten him.  
And now, he had just bested him. _Again._ For the fifth time in the day.

First, it had been the tree climbing, showing for the first time that Roberto had completely underestimated Blu's capacity to truly succeed on any of the tests, intentionally.  
Then, there was the drinking straw, showing that Blu could use any of his past knowledge on human trinkets and whatjamacallits to find much more practical solutions than he had been taught when he first took the course.  
After that, there was the wooden megaphone he put together when his beak was closed shut. Through the use of sheer force, he was meant to make a sound loud enough to be heard from distance, as he would do if he were to call for help, while unable to use his voice. The sound enhancer he fabricated, however, had the effort to a very minimum for him.  
And before being outrun in the tree marathon, there was the test of burying himself underground for an indefinite amount of time until he had to come out for air. There was no way he could last very long in that one. However, he was bewildered after nearly ten minutes passed without him resurfacing. He couldn't figure out how Blu had managed to keep himself underground far longer than he had managed to until he noticed a rolled leaf sticking out from the dirt: another makeshift straw that allowed him to breathe the surface air all the way down to his buried beak.

"Come on, Roberto! You're almost there!" Blu cheered from his spot. Roberto couldn't keep himself from gasping as he felt his talons close to giving in.  
He was _not_ going Blu to have the last laugh in this. He wasn't going to get embarrassed by that dorky macaw. He was the one in charge, not him!

Once he managed to get up, the blue-eyed macaw could only drag himself into the end of the branch.  
Too tired to make the jump, he slumped exhausted at the opposite end of the gap.

"Phew, well that was quite a run." Blu wiped the non-existent sweat off his brow. "Are we done? Cause I think I can keep up for a little longer!"

That nerve of his to keep mocking him was starting to push his buttons way deep.

"Alright, that's enough!" Roberto got himself up. "No more lessons today. We're done!"

"What? Aw, bummer." Blu feigned disappointment. "Just when I was doing so well…"

"Stop that!"

"What? Stop what?"

"You think I'm an idiot, don't you? Why don't you cut the indirect insults and have the guts to say them straight?"

"What? How dare you accuse of that!" He made no effort at hiding his sarcasm. "I would never dare to insult my good instructor _and_ future leader!"

Roberto's cool was starting to melt like ice cube in the dessert.  
"You mock ONE more time, Blu, and I swear that-"

A strange noise in the distance halted him.

"What is that?" The sounded came closer.  
But it wasn't coming from around them.  
It rang above them.

"Up there!" Blu pointed up to the sky, which was already reddening from the incoming sunset.  
Through the gap between the tree tops, they spotted a light aircraft flying through.

"Are those…humans?!"

"Hey, relax! They're probably just passing by." Blu reassured him.

Then like a blur, a solid object fell down between them, hitting the ground.

The two stared down at the fallen solid as the plane's noise faded away, leaving.

Roberto flew down to inspect the strange object while Blu took the longer route of climbing down.

Roberto look closely the alien object: it was small, brown and perfectly rectangular.  
It didn't look natural.  
His eyes widen, realizing what it was.

Right then, Blu reached ground level and spotted the object as well. "Oh look, it's-"

"Blu, stay back!" He stretched his wing with a halting gesture.

"What? Why?"

"That…that is human poison."

"…what?" Blu was completely baffled by the description.  
"No it's not. It's chocolate!"

"It's what?"

"Chocolate, duh! The people at the plane must have dropped it by accident." The amber-eyed macaw approached the candy fragment. "Ooh, it has almonds. Sweet!" Without thought, he grabbed it and took a big bite.

"BLU, NO!" Roberto slapped the rest of the bar from Blu's wing before grappling him into a body-lock, pressing hard against his abdomen in a Heimlich-like fashion. "Spit it out! SPIT IT OUT!"

"Bwagh! What-what are you do-gwagh!?" Blu felt the air forced out of his lungs with every hard press. "Stop it! STOP!" He forcedly released himself from Roberto's grasp, upset over his disrupted dessert.  
"What is wrong you?!" He yelled before swallowing the chocolate he wasn't given the chance to ingest yet.

Roberto looked paled at Blu, anticipating for the worst to happen.  
At any moment, he was going to drop dead in the ground.  
He was going to die…

…how was he still alive?

"…what?" Blu noticed the confusion in Roberto's stare.

"How are you…not dead?"

"Pfeh, you wish, don't you? What, were you trying to suffocate me just now?"

"No! I mean, how didn't you die from eating that?!"

"How? It's just chocolate…wait." Blu recalled all his he had read in the past regarding birds and their diets. "That's right, chocolate kills macaws, doesn't it? I almost forgot."

"Yes! But…it doesn't kill _you_?!"

"Oh, that…that's because I'm immune to it."

"…immune?!" Roberto's perplexity intensified many degrees.

"Yep, immune. I ate it first when I was just a young chick, back when I lived with Linda. She saw and she started to freak out, thinking I'd be dying out of poisoning, but strangely, nothing happened." He explained. "Linda and I read about how most animals, birds specially, could not digest chocolate properly, thus killing us, yet for reasons unknown, my body could handle it just fine."

"Just like that?"

"That's right. So rather than getting examined, we stopped worrying over it and ever since I've eaten chocolate whenever I pleased…well, not really, only after I finished my food or whenever Linda didn't hide it after I broke something."

"So wait…you're telling me you're the _only_ bird in the entire world that can eat chocolate and not die? You? Out of every single bird in the entire planet, it had to be YOU who can stand that…_poison_ and…eat it?! Like a DESSERT?!"

"_And_ drink it!" Blu added. "I actually think I prefer it that way. Ahh, how I miss hot chocolate." He blissfully recalled. "Especially when it came with marshmallows floating on-"

"GAH!" Roberto finally exploded.  
"I can't take it! I simply cannot take it anymore!"

Blu didn't know how to react to that sudden outburst.

"I simply cannot understand!" Roberto rambled. "What does even Jewel _see_ in you?!"

"Uh…excuse me?"

"Oh, you heard me! I really tried to be patient with you, Blu, but ever since we got here you've done nothing but whining, protesting against absolutely everything!"

"Oh ho, so this is how we're playing now, aren't we?" Blu retaliated. "Well ever since we've started this thing, you've done nothing but being a fancy show-off, always trying to prove how oh so macho you are!"

"Really? After I was trying to teach you valuable lessons on survival in the-"

"Oh, cut that dumb act off already! I know how much you love to make an idiot out of me!" He raised his tone. "Always trying to be so tough and alpha! What, can't feel so great if you don't have someone to ridicule every day?"

"Me?! You're the one who makes a fool out of yourself! Everything you do or don't do is a disgrace to your species! You could learn to do things the way we macaws do, but no, you want to be special, want things done _your_ way, and you complain and cry when you don't have it!"

"Well pardon _me_ if _my_ methods are too practical, too safe for your dangerous and, dare I say, _primitive_ labors."

"Well, our _primitive_ methods, Blu, require something you are apparently unable to put into anything. And that is effort! Just like you can't put effort into being a good family man."

"…what did _you_ just say?"

Roberto smirked, knowing he was now the one tugging some strings.  
"What you just heard. I mean, look at you, Blu. Your family is embarrassed of you! It's no surprise they would prefer the _uncle Beto_ over a killjoy dad like you."

Blu's eye twitched. He was starting to feel dangerously close to his boiling point.  
"Listen, I don't care what my kids or Jewel think, but from now one, you STAY away from them, you hear me?!"

Caught in their bickering, they did not notice the sky turning gray.

"I saved your tail feathers from that bulldozer! I helped the entire tribe driving away those loggers! All while you were freaking out like a pansy! I am NOT going to be treated this way by you!"

"You'll be treated the way I see fit, _Tylerino_!" Roberto tried to out-speak him. "You may have helped us that day, but _I_ am the future chief of this tribe. _I _decided what treatment you deserve in village, so you change that attitude of yours, act like one of us and show me respect, or I-!"

"Or you _what_?!" Blu stretched his head closer to him, defiantly.

Roberto returned the gesture. Their skulls nearly bashing each other. Deadly glares exchanged under the cloudy sky.

And then a thunder.  
It was the only announcement they had before the rain descended upon them.

"Huh?" Roberto turned up to the darkening sky, dropping the dispute momentarily. "But-but this can't be. The rains weren't supposed to be here yet! I must have counted the days wrong..."

Blu groaned in disbelief. "Ooooh, good job, my oh-so-smart future leader!"

Another heavy thunder.  
The two macaws hurried to the base of a tree, covering from the water before it could soak them completely.

Roberto faced his hateful companion once again. "I shouldn't have brought you here... This was all a big mistake."

"Huh, well, finally we can agree on something!" Blu remarked as he forcibly removed the vine that tied up his wing. He had almost forgotten about it and he was relieved that he had no good reason to keep that thing on him anymore.

"Right now, we gotta find some place to cover and rest, but as soon as it's morning, we're flying back to the village."

"Sounds about perfect, because I already see a place." Blu announced.

Roberto saw with surprise as Blu flew straight into a small hollow in the tree above them.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

"What?" The question came unexpected. "You're inviting me to share the hollow?!"

"Look, I'm not fond of the idea any more than you are, but unless you want to sleep with water falling on you, we're going to have to be roommates tonight."

Roberto flew himself up in front of the hollow to get a closer look of how it was inside.  
However…there was hardly _any_ inside.  
From the tight entry hole, he could see Blu's body pretty much covering a little over the half of the tiny space. He couldn't even straighten himself properly, having to lower his head in order to fit.

It was a small hollow indeed.  
If he went it, he was certain he'd hardly be able to move…

His body tensed.

"So…are you coming or not?"

"Huh?" Roberto broke from his unnerved trance again. "Wh-why the concern all of a sudden?"

"Hah, it's not you I'm concerned about, if that's what you think." Blu reassured.

"Well, whatever reason it is, I'm not sharing…_that_ hollow with you. I'll rather sleep under the rain."

"Nuh-uh, you're getting in here." Blu commanded as he did something with the vine he had been wearing. Roberto couldn't see well what he was doing to it, though. "Because if you're dumb enough to sleep in the rain, then you're gonna catch a cold. And if _you_ catch a cold, then you bet your tail feathers that _I _am going to catch a cold! And I'm already too sick of you to get sick of something else, so you get in here now."

Blu had a point, he internally admitted.  
Though seeing Blu getting sick would be an amusing sight, he certainly did not want to get sick himself to make it happen.

But that hollow.  
It was just so _tiny_…

"I…I, n-no." He shook. "I'm staying here outside. Goodnight!"

Not a second after his talons left the branch, he felt a sudden grip tightening around him, snaring him, and pulling him forcibly into the hollow.

"Oof!" He hit the wall inside the tree.  
The vine was tied tightly all around him, preventing him from opening his wings.  
That dastardly macaw…he had used the vine as a lasso.

"Let go!"

"Why don't you do it yourself, mister master of escapism? Didn't you learn to escape these things at your first try?" Blu teased.

Roberto attempted to reach his binds. Surely, he could cut them in a second.  
But as he tried to lower his neck, he realized he couldn't.  
With Blu's body pushing him against the hollow's walls, he could not move his neck and reach the vine with his beak.  
In fact, he realized he could not move at all.  
He was trapped.

"Oh God…" He froze. "I can't move…"

"Perfect. That way I can sleep better." Blu scuffled around, turning away from the other macaw to face the tree's wall.

"Blu, I can't move!" Roberto began to squirm nervously.

"Then stop trying!" He felt his beak pushed against the wood. "You're going to squash us against the tree, you idiot!"

Roberto stopped, yet did not seem any calmer.

"This hollow is…is just so…" His breaths became deeper. "I feel… I can't breathe."

"Oh, come on, the hole is right over your head. There's plenty of air coming in. What are you, claustrophobic?"

"…what? Me?" Roberto regained firmness. "N-no! I'm not!" He was not going to act weak in front of Blu. He may have trapped him, but he was not going to get ahold of his pride either. "It's just…very uncomfortable!"

"Well excuuuse me if this isn't like you exuberant palace, your majesty. Now do us both a favor and go to sleep." Blu ended with a yawn. "Once it's dry in the morning, you can get away from me as much as you please..."

Oh, how we wished he could right now.

"And you say _I_ am the whiner…" Blu spitefully said before letting himself get rest.

There was no use fighting. It seemed he had no choice but to endure the night inside that place.  
That compact place…  
Wood and feathers pressing against him…  
A barely big enough hole to let one of them through at the time…

_No, come on, Roberto! Man up!_ He told himself. _Don't give in.  
That was long ago…  
Don't give in…_

Perhaps, if he could just sleep it off.  
The sooner the night went past the better.

He shut his eyes.  
Hopefully his body would give in and get him some rest soon enough.

He tried not to think about the lack of space around him.

_That was long ago…  
Don't give in…  
It's not happening again…  
…happening again…_

* * *

Blu was having yet another odd dream.

This time, there were two blue-scaled fishes swimming underwater. They looked like they belonged to the same species, though one was noticeable bigger than the other. They were just swimming side by side, but not looking at each other. Judging by their expressions, they looked incredibly pissed off by each other's company.

Then suddenly, a female fish of the same species (there was no visual indicator: his sleeping brain just told him it was a female and roll with it) swam close to the smaller fish. She smiled to him and he smiled back. The bigger fish glanced at them. The other two fished cuddled for a brief moment before a large bank of dozens upon dozens of little fishes followed them.

It seemed like Blu's dreams paid no regard to any scientific facts, such as that fish do not take care of their offspring: they left their eggs after they were laid and let the newborns fend for themselves.  
But he was in no state of awareness to object against that, so he let the dream continue playing.

The bigger fish looked jealous to the family of fishes. He began to grow so irritated that he eventually pushed the smaller fish aside and took his place. Though surprised at first, the female and the little fishes seemed pleased with the bigger fish's presence. The later was growing very fond of the attention. But the little fish wasn't going to let that be: he charged and tackled the bigger fish away from his family. This, however, only caused the bigger fish to retaliate and soon the two of them were caught up in fisticuffs.

"Hah, _fish_ticuffs…" A sleeping Blu whispered with amusement.

Back in his dream, the fishes kept fighting. Suddenly, the female fish and the children vanished, without any real explanation, yet the males didn't seem to notice, being too caught up in their feud. The fight went on and became more aggressive with every blow. Until, suddenly, the smaller fish hit the bigger one so surprisingly hard that the later was sent away a long distance. The smaller fish couldn't look any prouder.

But his satisfaction was cut when he realized he had sent the bigger fish straight into the mouth of a piranha, which shut its maw and trapped his rival inside it.

The smaller fish panicked at hurried to wards the piranha, not giving it a second thought.

Strangely, the piranha didn't seem to care about the smaller fish, which allowed him to attempt into forcing its mouth open.  
From inside the piranha, he could hear the bigger fish's desperate screams.  
The smaller fish was terrified. How could he do this? What was he thinking? He had to get him out!

With all the strength he could muster, he managed to open the piranha's mouth just enough to get a glimpse of his terrified counterpart.

"It's so small…" He heard the bigger fish in a strangely low tone of voice, no longer screaming. "I can't move…please, let me out…"

The smaller fish was confused by the shift in the other's behavior. Even more so when the latter's fin smacked him in the face from the other side. "Ow! What was that for?!" The smaller fish asked before being given another hard slap.

"Please, please I beg you… Get me out! I can't move…" The bigger fish's voice became louder.

Suddenly, there was no piranha mouth: the smaller fish was merely holding open a black hole in middle of the water.

"Please! No! Don't give me those! I don't want!" The smaller fish felt how a solid object swam right past him into the hole, hitting the bigger fish hard on the face.  
It was…a cracker.  
"No! No more crackers!"  
Then another one. And after that, another one. Soon, the crackers began to fill the already small space within the hole. "Polly doesn't want crackers! He HATES them!" And yet the bigger fish kept smacking the smaller on in the face, harder every time. "Let me out! Let me OUT!" The bigger fish screamed.

"Stop hitting me, idiot!"  
The smaller fished yelled before receiving another hard blow against the face.

"Gywowch!" Blu felt a blunt hit rudely waking him up. As If that wasn't enough, he received another one. His angered eyes opened to see where the aggression came from before receiving a third hit. "OW!"

Finally able to catch a glimpse, Blu found the culprit to be Roberto's talon, which somehow had managed to position itself against his face.  
But it came clear to him how it happened: Roberto was shuffling himself around the tiny space like he was a having a tremendous spaz.

"Roberto! Will you stop moving?! You're hitting me-ow!" He got a fourth hit. "Alright, that does it, you-"

"I want to get out!" He head Roberto's voice.  
Screaming. Shrieking.  
"I want get out! PLEASE!"  
His blue eyes popped wide open.  
Invaded with fear.

"Roberto?!"

"No more crackers! NO MORE! BWAK!" His frantic became wilder, screaming like a maniac and pushing Blu more aggressively against the hollow. "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

"Roberto, calm down!"

"I WANT TO GET OUT! NO MORE CRACKERS! BWHAAAKAH! POLLY NO WANT! GET ME OUT!" He couldn't hear Blu through his panicked outburst. He wasn't thinking. He was full on despair.

"Roberto, stop moving! Calm down!" Blu yelled louder, trying to be heard.  
He was growing preoccupied.

"GET ME OUT! GETMEOUT GETMEOUT GETMEOUT I WANT GO GET OUT! HELP!"

It was no use. He couldn't get him to listen!  
He had to get him out.  
Blu bit on Roberto's binds, snapping him free of them.  
But this only allowed him to use his wings to keep hitting him against the hollow's walls.

"HELP! I NEED TO GET OUT! HELP! SOMEONE! NO MORE CRACKERS! AAAAAAH!"

He had to get him out by force!  
With the sheer force of his legs, Blu shoved Roberto out of the hollow.

"GYAAAAAAH!"  
He screamed his lungs out as he flied away from the hollow at full speed.

"Roberto, wait!"  
Blu squeezed out of the refuge towards the branch. The rain had weakened dramatically, yet still continued to fall.

Roberto was nowhere to be found.

"Roberto, where are you?!" He called, feeling strangely worried.  
His heart was racing.

"AAAH! GWAAH!"  
Roberto's screams echoed from somewhere.

"Roberto!" Blu flied off, following the sound of the screams.

They were getting lower. Was he getting further away?

"Stay put, Roberto! I'm coming!"  
Wait, what was he saying? Where those words coming from?

Roberto's voice was getting lower.  
He focused on his hearing, hoping it'd lead him to where he was.  
And so he hurried, before he could lose his sound.

But soon enough, Roberto's voice rang louder again. He was getting closer.  
Except he wasn't screaming anymore, nor yelling in any way.

"Roberto, Is that you?!" Blu called, just to make sure.  
He got no proper answer, but he heard him nearby.  
It sounded like he was panting.

Then, at last, he found him.  
Alone, in a semi-prone position on a thick branch, rain falling all over him.

"Roberto!"  
Blu landed behind him. His call was ignored.

The hyperventilating Roberto kept his eyes down, wide open in after-shock.

"Roberto?" Blu walked closer. "Are…are you alright?"  
Was he worried about him all of a sudden?

Roberto was still not hearing him.  
His mind too wrapped up in what had just caused him fright.

The rain kept falling.

Blu walked around him until he stood in front of the other macaw, who still didn't seem to be aware of his presence.

"Roberto?" He stretched his wing to him…

Finally making eye contact, Roberto reacted with a scared flinch.

"Woah, it's ok! It's just me!" Blu said, trying to be reassuring. "Just…good ol' me!" He smiled nervously, not exactly sure of what he was doing.

Roberto stared for a moment.  
His breathing finally began to slow down.  
His face fell once again.

Blu could only watch, unsure of what was happening to him.  
But really, why was he worried about him just now?

Yet, did it really matter?

Before he could answer himself, he heard Roberto's panting morphing into something else.  
It sounded like sobbing.

"Roberto?" Blu stepped closer. "Are you…crying?"

He was.  
His sobs grew louder.

Tough and fearless Roberto, reduced now to a wailing mess.  
Normally, this would be the perfect occasion to laugh back at him.

…except it wasn't.

He couldn't bring himself to mock him now.

He looked so despaired. So helpless.  
So afraid…

He stretched his wing again, placing it over Roberto's shoulder.

"There…it's ok…"

Roberto's crying didn't stop.

"It was just a nightmare."

"NO!"

Blu retracted, in surprise to his sudden yell.  
Roberto looked up to him again.

"No! It wasn't just a nightmare!"  
His stare was falling back again.  
"It wasn't just…"  
His interrupted wailing was slowly coming back…

And then he threw himself at Blu's wings.  
His face rubbing against Blu's chest.  
Seeking comfort.  
Letting himself to cry his heart out.

Even under the rain, Blu felt Roberto's tears running down his feathers. He drained his sorrow against the warmth of his torso.

It was an odd feeling.  
His mind was trying to make sense of it.

But like a smack in the face, a part in his subconscious told him something.

That Roberto needed someone.  
Someone to be there for him, next to him.

And he knew it had to be him.  
Because, well, there weren't really any other options at the moment.

But he gave little thought.  
He wrapped his wings around the crying macaw.  
And pulled him closer in a secure hug.  
"There there, Roberto…"  
He whispered to him, holding him gently.

The rain kept falling over them.

"Just…stay close to me and everything is going to be fine."


	4. Counting oranges

A.N.

And this is when the M begins to show itself. Nothing heavy yet, but something at least.

However, for those who are already eager for anything hardcore, I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait a little bit longer.

Hope this chapter is nonetheless entertaining!

* * *

**Lessons**

**Chapter 4: Counting oranges**

The night continued.  
With the rain already gone, the side-grove was dampened by the remnants of water.

Blu stood feet apart from Roberto, having decided earlier to give him some space.

The later remained still in middle of the branch, staring off into a small puddle that formed on a small dent in the wood.  
His crying was gone already, but the weary sadness in his eyes did not leave him.

It had been like this for a good while already, leaving Blu wondering if this is how things were going to be left as.

"Blu." He heard Roberto call him, his view still fixed on his own watery reflection.

"…yes?" He replied, not knowing what to expect.

"Could you…come over here for a moment?"

Blu walked slowly towards him, a bit insecurely, halting once he stood right next to him.  
Roberto didn't look back at him, still looking at his duplicate in the water.  
The amber-eyed macaw looked down into the puddle, meeting Roberto's blue eyes in there.

"I never thanked you for saving me that day…" He spoke, solemnly. "Sorry it took me this long…thank you."

His words sounded genuine. No thinly veiled intentions.  
It was a simple, yet heartfelt apology.

Blu felt a little touched by it.  
If only he knew what to say in return.

"Heh, there's no need." He humbly responded. "I just couldn't stand there and see you getting run over. I did what I had to."

Roberto did not expect humility like that, not after Blu had rubbed the fact he had rescued him in order to provoke him earlier that day.  
He felt a little touched as well.

Perhaps there was more to the other than they had let themselves see…

"Roberto…mind if I ask you something?"

"What is that?"

"About what happened to you, time ago."

Roberto was visible unnerved by the mention.  
Perhaps, Blu thought, he should withdraw that topic.

"It was during my third or fourth night doing nightly guard."  
Without having to formulate the question, Roberto dared to answer him anyway.

I was a very overconfident young bird. I wanted to prove myself to the tribe. So I went separate for a moment, alone, trying act fearless…and then, I saw one. A logger. Holding one of those...stupid, damned crackers..."

Blu leaned closer, fully attentive.

"Even though I knew there was danger, the man seemed to be so...kind, offering a bit of the snack. And I won't lie...back at that moment, it looked really delicious." He almost felt like slapping himself for that awful mistake.  
"So I slowly got closer to him, my beak almost reaching for it...and then, next thing I knew, I was ensnared by a burlap sac and taken away."

Though the memories were difficult to revive, having someone to share them with made it all the more different.  
It made Roberto feel brave enough to continue his recount.

"Other three got taken too and were sold away, but the man who caught me liked me so much he took me to his home instead." He swallowed. The next part would be the hardest to remember…

"He had a very large family…and a very small home." He continued. "They had a very old cage they had in a backroom. They put it in the living room, of all places, away from the windows…that was my home for two months."

Blu felt a bit of guilt. A part of him urged him to stop Roberto before he kept reliving those traumatic memories.  
Another, though, wanted to know more about them.

"The place smelled horrible…the family, they were all rude and loud…they never let me out of the cage. Never!" His voice began to crack. "And every day…every single day, they fed me crackers. The same bland, hard, salty crackers, shoving them down my throat, saying the same words over and over! Yelling them right in front of my face!"

_Polly want a cracker?! Polly want a cracker?!  
_Roberto's crazed cries rang as a flashback in Blu's head.

"I had to endure that for two months! TWO! MONTHS!" He yelled out, before giving himself a moment to tranquilize, somewhat.  
"Even though my body was still growing during that stage of my life, I never felt like I was getting bigger. Rather, I felt that my cage was becoming smaller…and smaller, day after day." He shut eyes, trying to stop himself from remembering the claustrophobic sensation.  
"I couldn't spread my wings at all…I could hardly keep myself upright…"

"It's ok, you can stop." Blu finally said. "Please, you don't have to keep going."

Roberto held back a small sob.

"I was only lucky one of the children unlocked me by accident one morning…then I flew as fast as I could, far away from that awful, awful place..."

Blu put a wing around him, providing him comfort again.

Feeling the gesture, Roberto finally looked at him.  
He smiled wearily, showing his gratitude.

"And here I thought", Blu said, looking away in a bit of embarrassment, "that you slept on that huge nest all for yourself just to show it off or something."

"Heh, I honestly can't blame you for thinking that." Roberto looked away, feeling no different.

"You could have told me before." Blu turned back to see him.

"And then you'd just have laughed at me for that."

He hated to admit it, but he had a good point.  
By the way things had started, Blu would have taken everything he could as a weapon to humiliate Roberto.  
"Right…"

"I probably deserve worse than that, though…" Roberto paused to let out a sigh.  
"I know I haven't been friendly to you, Blu. Not the last few days and not since I met you…"

"Yeah, well, I haven't really been any friendlier to you either…" Blu returned the confession.

"You know, I understand if you don't want me near your family anymore…it hasn't been fair of me to try and take them from you. If you want me to, I'll just leave you all alone."

Any other day, Blu would have felt overjoyed to hear those words. It'd be like a dream come true.  
But tonight, he could not bear to listen to them.

"No, I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because my kids love you, Roberto. Jewel loves you. I…don't want to take them away from you. For better or for worse, we're pretty much family already. You're the _uncle Beto_. I just can't force that away."  
Blu sighed, letting out a pent up frustration.  
"Besides…why would my kids spend a day with their boring dad when they can hang out with their awesome uncle?" He berated himself. "All I do is embarrass them. They deserve you, Roberto. They deserve better than me..."

For the first time, Roberto couldn't feel any pride in hearing someone esteeming him so much.

"Don't say that." He turned to him. "Your kids love you, Blu. They admire you."

"Admire me? Hah, please. My singing is squeaky and grating. I can barely lift two Brazilian nuts with my two wings. I'm the lowest of the lowest in our tribe! And you? You have a great singing voice and are a smooth dancer. You can lift your own weight. You're the lead guard of the tribe, you're next to become our chief. You are _the_ apex of our species! Why would they admire _me_ when they have someone like you right next to them?"

Hearing Blu being so self-depreciating was almost heartbreaking.  
Was it all his fault?  
Had he really mistreated him so badly, to the point he had destroyed his self-steem?

"I'm sorry, Blu…the way I've treated you, the way I always tried to make you feel jealous. It was very unfair of me…" Sucking up his entire ego, he said with utter regret. "I've been trying too hard to act like the 'apex bird', showing everyone that I'm worthy to succeed Eduardo, that I just let it get into my head..."

"Well, I can't blame you, really." Blu sympathized. "I've been there too, kind of."

"Plus, I have to admit that, I also did it because I was very jealous of you…"

"…jealous? Of _me_?" It sounded almost surreal to Blu. "What's there to be jealous about me?"

"Your family, Blu." Roberto confessed. "Because you have a lovely wife and three wonderful kids that love you. Both for whom you are and the things you do for them."

It couldn't be Blu just hearing things.  
He was telling him the truth.  
It all made sense now.

"You make mistakes, sure. But everyone makes mistakes. I know your family can see past your faults, Blu. They love you for who you truly are. No matter the things you do or the things you say, they still love you. They're there for you, and you're there for them…"

_But I'm there for nobody, and nobody's there for me…_was that what he would have said next, had he not stopped?

"I'm sorry I've made you feel that way too." Blu apologized, even though he knew it may come unneeded. "Flaunting my family all over you, like they were some sort of trophies or something..."

"Hey, come now." Roberto interrupted. "I don't recall a single time you've acted like that."

"Maybe. Still, that doesn't change the fact that you've had to see me spending time with them, trying to separate them from you as much as I could, not knowing how you really felt."

"Well, like I said," Roberto turned away once more, "it's probably what I deserve."

"Don't say that." Blu repeated the others' words. "You don't deserve any of that. To have a terrible day, putting yourself at risk for others, tiring yourself to exhaustion, only to come back home and-"

"-have no one to greet you with a warm kiss…" Roberto finished for him.  
"Nor an eager chick or two to give you a big hug and tell you how much they missed you…"

Blu couldn't imagine, how much loneliness Roberto has been living with…

"And then spending the nights all alone, with no one next you and relieving your loneliness by humping branches all night lo-"  
Roberto shut his beak before he finished saying what he was about to reveal.

"Hey, what were you going to say?"

"…n-nothing."

"Wait…did you say 'humping branches'?"

"Er…no." Roberto stared away nervously. "I-I said…counting…oranges! Yeah! It's a strange stress reliever, I know, but-"

"Counting oranges?" Blu stared skeptical. "There are no orange trees growing anywhere near the village, Roberto."

Roberto stiffened, his secret shame was on the verge of being exposed.

"…you hump branches at night?"

"Uugh, I'm such an idiot." He hid his blushing face under his wing.

"Oh, come on, there's no shame in humping branches, Roberto!" Blu tried to reassure. "For us birds, It's a very healthy method of mast-"

"Don't say that word." Roberto muttered under his wing.

"What? What word?"

"The one you were just about to say."

"Which one?"

"The m-word!"

"Oh, you mean masturbation?"

"YES!" He was blushing red hot. "That word!"

"Why? What's wrong with masturbation? Almost every bird does it! Heck, I've done it!"

"Yeah, when you were through puberty, I bet. But I'm a grown bird, Blu!"

"Pfff, so what? Adult birds have crazy urges too, you know. We depend on them! Nature wants us all horny to preserve the species. There's no shame in humping a branch as substitute when no one is available."

"Well, I guess, but…"

"But what?"

"I…" He lowered his wing, letting himself be seen again. "I just didn't think it was normal, it's all."

Poor guy, Blu realized.  
Was there never anyone close to him to give him 'the talks'?  
That, or he never had the courage to approach someone to discuss about them.

Then again, who better to give a wing on the matter than a bookworm like him?

"Well, it's perfectly normal, I can promise you that." Blu made clear.

Roberto sighed relieved, as if a little lump on him had somehow lightened up.  
"So...am I fretting over nothing then?"

"Well, it's certainly a touchy subject with some birds, that's a truth. But I don't think it's anything to feel ashamed about. Humping a branch is as natural when in heat as it is to drink water then you're thirsty…well, to me, at least."

"So, er…" Roberto felt afraid to ask. "You used to do it too, right?"

"_Used to_? I still do it frequently!" Blu shared.

"What? But, I thought you and Jewel-"

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I love some quality time with Jewel, I really do!" He clarified. "But here's the thing with partners: sometimes, they just won't be in the mood…hence why branches."

"I see." Roberto reflected upon on the new knowledge.

He heard his companion let out a giggle. "I prefer using twigs, though."

"Twigs?" Roberto asked puzzled, yet also intrigued.

"Yeah. You know, snapping them from the trees to take them home? It's practical. Sure, they don't, pack the same punch, but you get a better control of them!"

Roberto felt a little impressed that Blu of all birds would be educating him about these things.  
But he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather talk about them with other than him.  
It was comforting and relieving.

"Then…maybe I should try them one day." He said shyly.

"Oh, you definitely should! It's not every birds' cup of tea, but you might end up surprised!"

"Well, heh, we'll see…"

"One thing for sure, though. Nothing feels better than doing it with pencils!"

"…pencils?!" He startled.

"Yeah, pencils. Those long things humans use to write?"

"I know what a pencil is, Blu, but, I mean…don't they hurt?!"

"What? No! We don't use the pointy end, silly!"

"Oh!" Roberto felt relieved. For a second he thought Blu had some nasty secret sexual deviancies or something.

"Yeah, we're not masochists! We only do things with the length of it and sometimes the rubbery end too."

"Um, _we_?"

"Well, _we_ as in Jewel and I."

"…Ju-Ju?! She too?!"

"What, you thought she'd be a prude?" Blu giggled once more. "She may not always be in the mood, but when she is, ohohoh boy, don't get me started!"  
He recalled a particular night. "I remember the first time we tried pencils. That was before the kids were born. We sneaked into Tulio and Linda's house at midnight. We could have just waited til the next day, but boy, we were so eager to try it! So we took a pencil from the studio and when we got back into our nest we-"

"Oh, no no no!" Roberto covered his eyes, as if that way it'd block him from seeing the mental image that was about to form in his head. "I don't want to hear any of that!"

"Oh, sorry." Blu rubbed the back of his head. "Too much info?"

"It's ok, just…not when it's about Ju-Ju, please."

"Right, sorry." Blu felt a bit guilty over almost getting carried away. "Must be painful enough that I already took her from you, after all these years of you two knowing each other and, you know, being so close to one another…"

There was something Blu wasn't aware of yet, and Roberto could tell.  
Better to get that out of the way now.

"Blu, there's something you need to know about me and Ju-Ju. Just so you stop thinking the wrong idea." He lowered his wing and looked at his companion, now that there wasn't anything that could cause him shame, for now.

"What's that?" Blu looked confused, not knowing what to expect.

"Between me and her", he spoke firmly, "there was never anything."

"…never?"

"No."

"Nothing? I mean, no romance? Not even a teenage crush? No-"

"Nope. Never. Not before, not now."

"But…you two were so close! And still are!"

"Like friends, sure! But that's just it, Blu. We're best friends. Nothing more. She never fell for me and I never fell for her."

"...wow. I…sorry. I guess I was feeling too jealous to realize…."

"Well, like I said earlier, I don't blame you." Roberto said contently, glad they were able to clear out that misunderstanding. "She's a wonderful partner, Blu. You're truly one lucky bird to have her by your side."

"That's true." Blu said gladly.

"Don't get me wrong, though. It's not that I never thought she'd be a good partner. It's just that, well, I am…"  
He stopped himself again, leaving words unsaid.  
He was speaking too much again.

"You are…?"

"I'm…well, let's just say she isn't the kind of bird I've been looking for." He averted Blu's stare.  
He was hiding something.

"O….k? Then, what kind of bird have you been looking for?" Blu pressed in, driven by a sudden curiosity. "I mean, you have every girl in the village swooning all over you. You could practically pick the one who suited you better at any time!"

"Yes, but Blu…" He could tell Blu knew he was keeping something under wraps.  
How to explain himself without giving himself away?  
"I'm, they…it's all an act. I have no interest in any of them."

"It's all an act?"

He saw him nod in reply.

"Why? Why pretend you like them?"

"I can't…I can't tell you. Ok?"

Roberto looked like he was getting really upset. Whatever it was he was holding back must be giving him a lot of trouble.  
Not wanting to irritate him, Blu didn't press on any further.

Yet he couldn't stop himself from wondering.  
Pondering...

…wait, that was it.  
It made sense. It made a lot of sense to him now.  
The way he acted, the way he tried to avoid an answer. It was clear to him!  
He had to know for sure.  
Then maybe, he could help.

"You're…you're impotent, aren't you?"

"…what?!"

"Yes, impotent. I read somewhere that, in extremely rare cases, some male birds have very a hard time getting sexually active with another partner. But don't worry, it can be fixed! You don't need to compensate by putting up a show-"

"NO!"  
Roberto exploded!  
"I'm not impotent, Blu! I'm gay!"

"…oh."  
Blu felt beyond stupid.  
Now _that_ actually made sense.

"There! I said it!" Roberto yelled angrily. "Are you happy now? I'm not attracted to females. I'm gay! I have the hots for other males! Now go tell the whole world while you're at it, will you?"

"Woah, calm down! No need to shout!"

Roberto kept his glare for a moment.  
But then took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Sorry…it's just, I've never told anyone before…"

"But, why not?"

"Same reason I never talked to anyone about the branch thing. I…I didn't think it was normal. That it made me weird…"

At that moment, Blu realized what Roberto's real problem had been since the very beginning.

All that pressure he must have grown with, knowing that he had to be an example for the village, to be the macaw every macaw should look up to. He must have dedicated his entire time serving the village, being a brave leader, always taking care of others.

But it all had come with a great price: he had neglected to let himself being taken care of by someone else, never looking for someone to listen to his problems, his inner conflicts, his fears and insecurities.  
Someone to be listened by, that's all he needed.

Yet now, he _did_ have someone.  
And not just someone who listened, but who could also say something back.

"Roberto." Blu approached him. "Let me tell you something and I hope you believe me when I say it." He waited for Roberto to look at him, wanting the message to be received with sincere interest.  
Roberto drew the courage to look at him in his amber eyes.  
When he knew his partner would listen, he proceeded.  
"There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, not now nor in a million years, there never has and will never be, _nothing_ weird about being gay."

"…nothing?"

"Nuh-uh. No."

"Not even in birds?"

"Are you kidding? It's especially so NOT weird in birds!"  
Blu felt it was the best time for another lecture.  
"You see, homosexuality and bisexuality amongst birds is a pretty common incidence. They're often thought of as unnatural, but the causes for their occurrences are based on natural factors. It's been well documented by zoologists all over the world. There's a huge amount of evidence backing it up. The list of bird species that do it is inmense! Us macaws do it, seagulls do it, ducks do it. Heck, even penguins do it!"

"Really?" Roberto was genuinely amazed. "Even penguins?"

"Yes! Those featherless waddlers even got their own book about it."

"Naw, come on. You have to be joking."

"Roberto, look at me. Does it look like I'd lie to you about this right now?"

Any other day before this he would certainly thing so.  
But not now. He was being honest. Roberto knew he was being honest.

"And if you're still uncertain, then let me tell you this, but do NOT tell anyone I'm telling you this because I hate sounding like a gossipy bird, ok?"  
Once he saw Roberto answer with a nod, he lowered the tone of his voice and continued.  
"In our tribe, there's a _lot_ of macaws that are into birds of their same sex."

"What? Really?! How do you know?"

"Oh please, you can see it a mile away! Fibo? that bird that covers you after night watch? He's undeniably gay. He flirts with the other watch birds when he thinks they're all alone, and I bet you that some of them are gay as well."

"Them? No way!"

"Yes way! Also, Joel and his 'nestmate' Freddi? Also gay! They're already giving up on keeping it secret and it's _really _starting to show."

Roberto felt incredulous. How did Blu know all this stuff? Or was it just him who was oblivious to it while everyone else was perfectly aware?

"Oh, and, keep this one _just_ between you and I."  
Blu stepped closer to him, as if someone could be somehow eavesdropping.  
"Jewel's aunt? Mimi? She's been hitting on one of the older ladies that gather every day near the pond."

"Her?!"Roberto could understand Blu's concerns. He really did sound like he was one for gossip.  
But it certainly had its good uses, such as the one he was giving them right now.  
"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! She couldn't be any more lesbian if she tried!"

"Wow." It was as if everything Roberto feared about himself were all naught matters.  
He felt incredibly relieved, as well as incredibly silly.  
"I…I didn't know…all this time…."

"Do you see now, though?" Blu held his shoulder.  
"There's nothing wrong with being how you are, Roberto."

A rustle in the trees.  
Yet again.

The two turned their attentions to wherever the noise may have come from.

Then again, it could have been just the wind…

Before either could say anything about it, Blu let a large yawn escape through his beak.

"Huh, how late is it? We must have been talking for over an hour already."

"I don't know. I've sure lost track of time." Roberto replied, before giving a yawn of his own.  
"We should probably call it a night already, shouldn't we?"

"I suppose."

Roberto walked up the branch to reach for the trunk. "Well, you can return to the hollow if you'd like, or find another one nearby."

"But…wait, what about you?"

"Me? Oh, I'll be alright. I'll just sleep out here. I'll be fine now that the rain is gone."

"Are you sure?" A little breeze came by, sending a small chill through the two of them. Despite it being summer, and in the jungle of all places, the dampened atmosphere was keeping the air a bit cold still. "All alone? Out here?"

"Yeah, well, it's nothing I'm not used to already..."  
He said with feigned resignation as he rested against the tree as comfortably as he could. "Goodnight, Blu…"

It was a depressing sight.  
The thought of a warm, cozy hollow was really tempting, Blu admitted.  
But he just couldn't leave Roberto. Not like this.  
Just how many nights had he spent alone already?

That streak had to end, somehow.

Plus, he could use a comfy source of heat for tonight…

Roberto reopened his eyes, seeing Blu waddling towards him.  
"Blu? What are you doing?"

"Eh, I saw no hollows around, so I decided to give the open air a try too." He replied, insincerely. "Sure, I'm an open target for mosquitoes out here, but hey, lessons in survival, huh?"

Blu came closer, reducing the distance between to very small amounts…

"And speaking of which…it's a well-known survival tip to share your body warmth with someone else's. It comes in handy for nights like this after the rain." He said smilingly, making his intentions transparent. "And, well, since this _is_ a survival course-"

"Blu, I know you're trying to do." He stretched his wing, halting Blu's progress. "You don't have to keep me company, really. I'll be fine."

He hesitated for a moment…was it really ok to do this?  
He said he'll be fine. Maybe he_ will_ be fine.

Or maybe he wasn't. Maybe neither wasn't.

It wasn't like he'd lose anything with trying…

Blu moved Roberto's wing aside.

Getting confident again, he got closer even.  
Their feathers touched.  
A mutual exchange of warmth.

It felt…pretty nice.  
It was comforting.  
And comfortable…

"Much better, isn't it?" Blu said wearily, his body already giving in.  
He never imagined lying next to Roberto would be so incredibly…cozy.

"Y-yeah…it actually is." The blue-eyed macaw couldn't lie. It lit a little fire inside, an inner warmth.  
Was this what sleeping next to someone felt like?  
If it was, then he liked it.

"I…thank you, Blu." He too gave up to the comfort, letting out another yawn as he closed his eyes.

"Heh, don't mention it…"

With eyes closed, for the first time ever, the two enjoyed their company as their minds started to go blurry…

"Um…Roberto?" Blu spoke up, stalling the sleep for a little longer.

"Yes?"

"I'm curious…so what's tomorrow's plan going to be?"

"Well, I guess if we want we can still return to the village…"

"True. It's what we agreed to after all…" Blu remembered. "…but let's pretend for a moment we didn't. What would be tomorrow's new lessons be about?"

"Well, to be honest, there are no _new_ lessons tomorrow."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The idea is that, those lessons from the first two days, you're gonna have to repeat them tomorrow."

"Again?"

"Mmhmm, only with a bit more…intensity."

"Intensity, huh?"

Blu felt him nod wearily.

"Hum…that sounds like fun..."

They were so comfortable that night that not even their minds could bother dreaming anything.

The only sensations their minds received during their sleep was the complacence of their feathered bodies resting against one another.

It was all they need it.

The comfiest sleep they have had in a long time.


	5. This close

A.N.

The next chapter is back to being a very short one.

The good news is that the next chapter will be very long.  
And will also _finally_ have something everyone must be already waiting for.

But before we get to any of that, I thought it was necessary to have a proper transation between that and the chapter before this.  
Hope it's of your liking.

* * *

**Lessons**

**Chapter 5: This close  
**

Roberto had looked behind, on top, below and across every tree and every bush he could see, but there was no sign whatsoever of the bird he was looking far.

He didn't know whether to feel glad or a bit disappointed in that he wasn't going to be chasing anyone today. Either way, he felt oddly pleased that the results of his extensive search had actually been fruitless.

He was about to call out he was giving up, when something caught his eye.

A rolled up leaf, like a tube, sticking out of the ground.

Chuckling at the discovery, he went towards the leaf and plucked it out from the dirt.

A few seconds later, Blu jumped out from under the ground, covered in dirt from head to talons, as he gasped for air.

"Hey! You could have just said you found me!" Blu complained.

"And where's the fun in that?" Roberto teased. "Besides, what are you complaining about? You just spent nearly an hour hidden in plain sight!"  
His compliment was sincere, no hidden disdain attached.  
"Where did you get all that patience from, though?"

"Patience? Naw, I was only making up for the sleep you made me lose last night." Blu teased back.

"Hey! You better not be tempting to pin you down to the ground like the other day. You don't want to get any dirtier than you already are!"

A devilish grin announced Blu's sly idea.  
"And do you?"

Without letting Roberto make an answer, Blu threw the pile of dirt beneath him into the him.  
Covering himself in reflect, his bright blue feathers were tainted with the black of the soil.

"See if you can pin me down this time!" Blu challenged as he took off at full speed through the woods.

Roberto spat out the third on his beak. "You asked for it, _Tylerino_!"

Roberto gave chase to Blu.  
A playful thrill fueled them as they forgot the training momentarily, giving them a moment where together, without the expense of the other, they had fun.

* * *

Blu returned to the spot Roberto had designed to meet again. Thanks to some indications, Blu had finally started to become a little more familiar with the surroundings, letting him rely on his own to traverse the side-grove.

"I couldn't find anything." Roberto admitted, somewhat ashemedly. "You?"

"Well, I went back to the tree you showed me the other day and all of them seemed to have gone ripe already." Blu too announced his no better results.  
"But", his expression brightened, "I think this one it still good." He said as he pulled out a berry, still looking fresh and plump.

"Wow, that's a very good find." Roberto complimented. "Well then, enjoy it, Blu! You deserve that meal."

_Groaaarr_

Blu turned to expect his stomach rumbling in hunger, but to his surprise, the source of the noise had come from somewhere else.  
Or rather _someone _else…

Roberto diverted his eyes in embarrassment.

He'd probably need it even more.  
"Here, you can have it!"  
Blu offered the plump fruit to the blue-eyed macaw.

"No, no, no. It's fine." Roberto insisted. "You found it, Blu."

"So? I'm sure I can go for another search a little longer. I think you should have it."

"No, really, Blu. It's yours. Don't worry about me!"

Blu went pensive for a moment. What could he do to get that macaw to have a decent meal? They were both at a stance where neither would eat if the other didn't either.

The solution came right away.

"Here!"  
Blu ripped the berry in two.  
He threw one of the halves to Roberto.  
"Problem solved."

Roberto caught the gift, not expecting to receive it.  
But he accepted with plentiful gratitude.

They traded a smile and proceeded to eat their halves.

"And don't tell me not to worry about you. You worried about me when I was going to eat that chocolate, so I'm only returning the favor!"

"Yeah, the chocolate that wasn't going to kill you!" Roberto said with amusement.

"Hey, who knows, my immunity could wear off at any minute or something. Besides, I told you I've been trying to quit human food." Blu paused to take another bite. "Thoshe thingsh are full of shugar anyway! Bad for the circulation!"

Roberto too masticated a modest portion of his juicy meal just as Blu swallowed the portion he held.

"So yeah, you were doing me a huge favor."

Roberto took the chunk of berry down his throat and followed. "Well, I'm just glad I won't have to eat any of those bitter leaves now."

"Hey, nobody deserves to have such a horrible luncheon! Not even you!" Blu said teasingly.

"What was _that_ supposed to mean?" Roberto said in a jokingly menacing tone.

"That? What that?" Blu played dumb. "It's probably just your stomach telling you to stop talking and eat some more before we continue today's teachings!"

"Is it? I don't know…I could have sworn I heard, let's say, a predator reaaally close by..."

"Really, huh? And ust how close are we talking about?"

Roberto finished eating.  
"Hmm…how about…"  
He walked closer towards Blu.  
Stretching his wings as he did, menacingly…  
"_This _close?"

Blu froze on the spot. Holding his unfinished berry in one of his talons.

"Um…before you start chasing me for the second time today, can I at least finish my food?"

"Sure."

Blu gulped down the remaining portion of the juicy fruit.

Without waiting to swallow it, he flew off at full speed.

And Roberto followed like an azure blur.

* * *

"There's no real science behind it, really." Blu explained his partner, who looked attentively to his instruction as he held a leaf between his wings. "All you gotta do is stretch the leaf and roll it like _this." _He began to roll his own leaf into a tube, quickly and precisely. "And there you go! Since we don't have tape you're gonna have to hold it together yourself, but try it!"

Very new to this, Roberto had a poor first attempt.  
And then a slightly improved, but still sloppy, second.  
It wasn't until his third attempt where he got a decent result.

"Not bad!" Blu congratulated.

Roberto smiled a bit proud of his little success.

"Now, without letting it roll open, you gotta get yourself close to the water and put the further end in." He directed, submerging the opposite end of his 'straw' into the water. "And simply put the closer end into your beak and, _then,_ suction."  
Demonstrating, Blu helped himself with a decent dose of water straight from the edge of the stream.

Roberto was mystified by the simplicity of it. In his eyes, it was almost like magic of sorts.

Blu withdrew the straw from his mouth, having satisfied his thirst at full.  
"Now, you try it!"

Roberto followed the simple process a bit nervously, a bit afraid that he'd somehow screw up something as easy.

He dipped the further end into the water…there! He was hallway through.

He put the closer end into his beak and…  
…nothing happened.  
Wasn't the water supposed to go into his mouth by itself?  
Did he just screw it up?

"Silly, you forgot about the sucking part!" Blu reminded.

"Shucking?" Roberto asked with the straw still in his mouth.

"Just do like you were blowing, only inwards."

"Oghay…"  
He did as he was instructed and…  
There! He could feel it! The water had gone all the way from the river into his beak.  
He felt like giddying out of joy. It felt like the discovery of his life!

"Oh yeah, and one more thing. Don't-"

Roberto spat out and coughed, dropping the straw.

"…yeah, don't try to breathe while you're doing that."

Roberto took a deep breath once his throat was clear from water.  
He awkwardly stared at Blu, who struggled to contain a giggle.  
This must be what it is like to make a fool out of yourself.

It was actually pretty funny.

Roberto let himself cackle too.

Despite being at his own expense, the two were sharing laughter, for once.

* * *

"Come on, almost there!" Blu cheered from ahead, swiftly dashing through the branch as Roberto followed close behind.

"Blu!" He said panting. "I can't…I can't keep up!"

"Don't say that! Keep going! Don't give in!"

Blu reached the end of the branch, from which he jumped into the next tree, where he stopped and turn around to see Roberto closing in.

"Come on! Just one last jump! You can do this!"

Roberto gave a last ditch effort.  
Sped up the pace.  
Made one last rush.

And then lept across the gap…  
…right into Blu.

"Oof!"  
Blu fell on against the tree, pressed down by the heavier macaw that rested on top of him.

"So…how did I do?" Roberto could feel his lungs hard at work trying to recover. "Are we in at the seventh tree now?"

"Nnnope." Blu pointed out.  
"Eleventh."

"…eleventh?!"

"Yeah! Eleventh!"

"Eleventh…eleventh! I-I did it!"

Roberto helped himself up, standing and raising his wings in triumph.

"Ugg, Roberto!"

Roberto looked down, realizing just who he was standing on. "Oh! Sorry!" He stepped back.

Blu got back on his feet as well, making no comment on that.

"Wow, did I really fun that far?"

Blu nodded.  
He put his wing on Roberto's shoulder.

"You did a lot better today."

Roberto smiled.  
Returning the gesture, he held Blu's shoulder as well.  
"We both did!"

* * *

The two sat at the tree's top as the sun set in the distance.  
Quite a nice way to finish off the day.

Well, except for the fact that, for dinner, the only food that seemed to be in the menu was a pile of squirming worms. They had managed to gather a sizeable amount, which they were sharing. Both agreed, however, that out of the entire pile, only about a third of it would actually be consumed, since they were too sure that as soon as their stomachs felt satisfied a smidge satisfied, they'd immediately stop torturing their taste buds with the disgusting taste of the bugs.

Still, the sight of the big shiny orb slowly making its way under the horizon, tinting the sky in a vivid red and orange seemed enough to distract them from their unpleasant meal.  
Had they waited a little longer to eat they might have chosen to skip dinner altogether.  
Something about this moment made it just too perfect.

Roberto recalled many evenings he had spent carrying his duties across the village, neglecting the daily event that sunset was.  
Yet nearly every other macaw in the tribe, he always saw, seemed to be enjoying it like it was a phenomenal spectacle.  
Specially the couples.

"Blu?"

"Yesh?" He responded with a worm about to be swallowed down his throat, and his brain pressing him not to spit it out in disgust.

"Do you and Jewel spend every evening watching the sunset?"

"Well, not always, but we do often, so yeah. Sometimes the kids watch with us too." He grabbed another worm. He couldn't understand how their kids were able to eat those things during their newborn days. "Why?"

"Just wondering." There was a subtle air of longing in his words. "There's not a day in the village when I don't see couples upon couples watching the sunset together, so, I was just wondering."

"Well, there is just something about it that makes it good amongst couples. And not just macaws. I can't think of any living being who doesn't enjoy watching the sunset with someone else...well, except maybe bats, obviously."

"Something?"

"Mmhmm. You could say that. I wouldn't know how to explain it. I mean, it happens every day and all, so it's not hard to take it for granted."  
Blu finished eating at last, Roberto having satisfied his own hunger moments ago already.  
They were right: about two thirds of the pile of worms remained intact. And intact they would remain. Those worms would be allowed to continue their literally dirty lives a few more weeks longer.  
"But when you have someone by your side, it makes it a lot better, I guess."

Directing his attention to Roberto, Blu noticed his melancholic stare piercing across the red sky.  
A stare that held back a strong feeling of yearning.

Roberto saw them again. Not in his eyes, but in his head.  
All those couples from all those days, perching at the entrances of their hollows, standing next to each other. Some hugging, some cuddling, some kissing. Some doing a combination or all of them at once, but all enjoying with delight the sight of the sun setting down for the day.

Every day he saw them do that. And everytime he did, Roberto couldn't help but feel a bit more and more lonely.  
How he wished he had someone, at least for one day, to share a moment like that...

"Roberto?"

His mind was taken back to the current time and place by Blu's voice. He saw him looking at him with concern.

Blu. Before, the most selfish and arrogant bird in the planet. Now, one of the kindest birds he had ever had in his life.

He was ashamed of every single wrong thing he had thought about him.  
He couldn't look at him right now, not without knowing that he had judged him unfairly for so long.

"I'm sorry again, Blu…about everything I thought said. I've been wrong about you all this time."

Blu got on his feet and walked close to him.  
He too had an apology to give.

"Hey, you aren't the only one who was wrong about someone, you know."

Roberto. Once, the most selfish and arrogant bird in the entire universe. Now, one of the sweetest birds he had ever had the pleasure to be with.

The two stood silently side by side, watching as the red sun was halfway through its course to disappear behind the horizon.

Roberto managed a smile.  
Not today.  
He didn't feel lonely today.

"You're right…the sunset is a lot better with someone by your side."

Blu almost gasped.

"Heh…"  
He turned his face away.  
"Told you."  
Hiding his blushing face from Roberto's sight.


	6. The luckiest bird in the world

A.N.

And the wait is over.

* * *

**Lessons**

**Chapter 6: The luckiest bird in the world  
**

The final night finally came around and, fortunately, the rain did not come back for it.  
Roberto felt grateful he'd not have to squeeze into another tiny hollow for the night. It seemed like all the forest could provide were smaller spaces to sleep in. That or maybe he had grown used to the bigger size of his own home to remember natural-sized hollows weren't very big to begin with.  
Either way he wouldn't mind sleeping in the open for one more night.

"Ok, I think I just found one over here." Blu announced from the tree in front.  
Of course, that wouldn't stop his companion from getting an enclosed space for his own to spend the night at.

Of course he wasn't going to object to that. For all he cared, the three days of survival course could very well be declared over.  
But still, it made him feel uneasy for some odd reason.

Blu. How wrong had he been about that bird.  
He regretted not giving him a chance from the first day they met. He regretted being too blinded by his envy to try and see the kind of bird Blu really was.  
It was incredible, all that macaw had done for him in one night.  
It was like having a someone that had been missing during his whole life finally making him whole.

And perhaps that was why he was feeling so worried tonight.  
He had spent a wonderful day next to him. Laughing, sharing, learning, helping each other, having fun. When was the last time Roberto had been so close to someone like this? Not since he had taken over his duties as leader watchbird and next-to-be chief of the tribe.  
And not even before that did he recalled having a closeness as meaningful as this one.

"Uh, Roberto?" Blu landed next to him, concerned by his lack of response and his absent stare.

His voice rang in his head, but didn't say a think back.  
His thoughts were wrapped by the image of the amber-eyed macaw.  
Something about him…no, everything about him…  
Blu.  
Would he ever find a bird as wonderful as him?

"Roberto? You alright?"

"Blu…do you think I'll find a mate one day?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? Of course you will!" Blu said optimistically. "What makes you think that?"

"I don't know…maybe I'm just…nah, forget it." He dropped the subject, convinced it'd probably be something absurd to discuss anyway. Perhaps he could just sleep it off and let the issue leave his thoughts.

"Come on, Roberto. What is it?" Blu insisted.

"It's nothing. I'm just..."  
He was silenced by Blu's touch.

Feeling his wing on his back, Roberto looked up to face Blu and his comforting stare.  
_You can tell me anything, _Roberto read in those orange eyes.

A wonderful bird he was indeed…

"I just don't think I'd make a good lover."

"Oh, nonsense!" Blu dismissed. "In all honesty, I think you're lover material in every way possible, Roberto. I honestly can't imagine at least a guy or two seeing a thing in you."

"What makes you think anyone would?" Roberto refuted, being in denial about Blu's statement. "And I don't mean falling for me like some fawning fangirl who likes a pretty face. I mean, loving _me,_ for what I truly am!"

"Well, Roberto." Blu went on. "First and most, you have to let the others to know you. Be open about yourself."

"But, Blu…if I do, what if they don't like me?"

"Well", Blu had to make this the least hurtful he could make it sound, for the sake of his companions' feelings, "if that happens with someone, Roberto, all you can do is cope with rejection."

"That's a lot easier said than done." The blue-eyed macaw uttered as he lowered his face.

"Of course it is. I know that too well."  
Blu waited for Roberto to look up at him again, wanting to be as direct as possible.  
"I never told you about my many crushes back at Minnesota, did I?"

"Well, we've never really held a lot of conversations before, so I doubt it."

"Thought so. There's not really much to say about it, though. When you're a tropical bird in a place of cold temperatures, it's impossible not to stand out too much from the locals."

"So, they all…?"

"Yep. Every single one of them. No matter what I tried, whether I was being the best me I could be or the best someone I really wasn't, it was a series of rejections after rejections." Blu explained, visibly troubled by remembering all those hurtful moments in a single instant. "…so, eventually, I just gave up and decided that maybe I was never going to be anyone's thing."

"But, then", Roberto spoke up, "you met Jewel."

"Exactly!" The other macaw perked up in a second. "That's precisely my point, Roberto. See? I had no reason to give up any hope because, well, look at how things ended up like. And that's why neither do you."

Roberto felt a smidge of shame again.  
Damn, he was good at knocking sense in to him.

"Besides, _I_ like you, do I not?"

Roberto froze a little by those words.

They could be read In many different ways and he wondering if he was getting the right meaning just now.

"T-that's different, Blu! I mean, you and I, we aren't going to be lovers."

"That's true…"

Roberto stared away, worried that he was going to take this conversation back to square one. Maybe it was wisest to not talk about it anymore.

"But what says we wouldn't?"

His feathers stiffened.  
His face flushed.  
There could be no second meanings behind _those_ words.

"W-what?" The blue-eyed macaw turn around and stared in bafflement. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Blu was growing a little doubtful about the direction he had just taken the conversation into.  
But he wasn't one to simply try and bury a topic like that. He had gotten himself into it, he had to follow through.  
"For starters, I'm not straight, so hypothetically-"

"Wait, you're not straight?!"

"Well, no, not really. So, as I was-"

" But, Jewel! I thought yo-u!"

"Oh oh, I DO love Jewel, Roberto!" Realizing he was giving the wrong idea, he tried to explain himself. "I said I'm not straight, not that I'm not attracted to females at all!" He saw Roberto ease up, hoping it was a good sign. "To be frank, I'm not entirely sure what I'd count as, but I guess you could say I'm bisexual."

"Bisexual?"

"As in, 'likes both sexes'?"

"I know that! But, how? Since when?"

"Oh, it's a _long_ story…no, really, it is. I've thought it over in my head and it'd take me more or less around 11,000 words to explain it properly to anyone."

Roberto was growing a bit frustrated, not to mention confused, with Blu's explanations. "You're not cheating on Ju-Ju…are you?"

"What?! NO!" Blu frantically denied. "No no no no,I just told you, I love her! Honest! I am NOT cheating on her with someone else! All I'm saying that is that if I wasn't with Jewel already, I could see me falling in love with you!"

Eerie pause.

None moved, none spoke.

Awkward tension.

Roberto finally took a step back, allowing some space between them, easing the tension between them, before turning away.

"…how do I know you're not just saying that?"

To that, Blu could honestly not think a way to answer.  
Besides, he could be right.  
How did he know he wasn't just saying that?

Reasons.  
He would never just throw out something like that without having any meaning at all.  
There had to be reasons.

_Let's see…_,Blu thought as he imagined himself in a hypothetical scenario.

One where there was not Jewel, no Carla, no Bia and no Tiago. One where he was single and had no children.  
And then, from out of nowhere, Roberto comes into play.  
Would he really fall in love with him?

Well, not right away, he thought for certain. Not if he acted the way he had known him for acting like when he first met him, which was like a self-absorbed macho show-off.  
But then again, those looks of his would have inevitably caught his eyes.  
Those _gorgeous_ looks, he had to emphasize.  
They did already from the first time he had seen them: starting from that comb of adorning feathers over his head, his bright blue eyes and that sleek, athletically built body of his.  
Boy, how he had envied to those looks…  
They were just so _good!_  
They were grade-A eye candy. They were alluring.  
He was the most handsome bird-no, the most handsome living being he had ever seen in the world.  
And leaving past the visuals, Blu remembered what his sense of touch had already experienced from him last night.  
The feeling of that firm plumage against his own, the way his feathers caressed against his.  
And that's not even mention the manly scent that his nostrils breathed all night long during his sleep, all the way to the morning wake up.  
Maybe he wouldn't have liked him as a person from day one, but damn, without Jewel there, what would have stopped him from going gaga over a hottie like him?!

…Blu had to stop his track of mind to make sure his inner temperature wasn't rising out of control.  
Unfortunately, his cheeks were already burning red hot.

Roberto was unsure what to make of Blu's long silence.  
Perhaps it was a confirmation for all his doubts.  
"Yeah, I thought so…"

"Wha? Oh, no no no! Sorry, I was just-no! I'm not saying it just to make you feel better, Roberto! I mean it!"

"Blu, please, don't try to spare me the pain. I'd be a mess of a lover. I act like I know a thing romance, but truth is, and you know it well, I'm a complete idiot!" He yelled self-beratingly.  
"I mean, I don't even know how kissing is done. How pathetic is that?"

And there he was again, talking about his own little insecurities, just like the other day.  
Guess it was time to clear out things for him again.

"Come on, Roberto, there really isn't a lot to know about kissing." He expressed simply.

"Easy for you to say, Blu." Roberto replied somberly. "You already have years of practice."

"No, really! It's not hard at all."

"How can I know that for sure?"

"Well, easy. Just let me explain it to you."

If he had managed to help Roberto understand his masturbatory habits in one night, then he couldn't see how explaining kissing would be any harder.

…right?

Blu himself couldn't really get to understand it well when he first read about it long ago. Or, rather, he thought he knew back at then. But all knowledge he had about it was encyclopedic, cold, unemotional. It was all technic knowledge.  
Just like flying was for him.

He never truly understood flying until he stopped thinking about it and just felt it.  
And, strangely enough, it was no earlier than the moment he understood at last what a kiss truly was like.

Back at that instant when he and Jewel were free falling, he remembered, his first kiss. His wonderful, blissful first kiss.  
He wasn't thinking about it. It definitely didn't cross his mind at all as he and his mate were falling to a very certain death.  
But he…felt it.  
And it was by feeling when he truly learnt what a kiss was like.

So was Roberto really going to understand kissing merely by a bookworm's explanation?

"Or, well, I could always…"

…wait wait, just where were his thoughts taking him to?  
Just how else did he think he could explain a kiss to someone, if not by explaining it.  
The only other real option was, well…

Well, he _had_ felt Roberto's body against him already, so in some way, he was not new to breaking into his intimacy. But this was different.  
But there was something else yet missing…

"You could always what, Blu?"

Roberto's touch had been pleasant, he couldn't deny.  
Heck, it was _wonderful_.  
But now that he thought about it, it felt like even then he was missing out something.  
Could that something be…?

"…I could show you."

Roberto's heart began to accelerate.  
A part of him hoping Blu wasn't hinting at something he was afraid to think out loud.  
…and another part actually hoping for that exactly.

Was he really going to?  
Did he want to?

"S-show me?"

"Yup." Blu nodded weakly. "Like, you know, a little demonstration. Practice, you could say. That's all…"

"I, uh…"

He felt his legs starting to shake. The direction this was all going was foggy.

But to know what a kiss felt like…it was tempting.  
But...right here? Right now?

_What, are you saying there's something wrong with Blu?_ He told himself.  
There really wasn't, not now that he no longer disliked the amber-eyed macaw.  
So, what was his excuse?

What was he afraid of? It'd be just a kiss. It'd start a kiss, it'd end a kiss and nothing further.  
…right?

Unsure if he was leading himself to a right decision, Roberto took a deep breath.  
"I guess I could try…"

"Oh. Good!" Blu said with an uncertain gladness, starting to feel his legs shaking in nervous anticipation for what he had brought him and Roberto into.

"So…how is it done?"

"Oh, well." Blu tried to remain firm. "It's simple. All you have to do is…"  
He took a step closer to Roberto. Too late to back off now.  
"Stand face to face."

Roberto position his body, mirroring Blu's position. "Like this?"

"Yup! That's good!"

They faced directly into one another.  
However, their eyes tried their not to cross into eye contact.  
It could be no other thing than plain, expected shyness.

"Next, you gotta, tilt your head just a liiiitle bit…" Blu demonstrated, slightly inclining his own to his left side.

Roberto tried to mimic the action, again mirroring Blu completely.

"Oh no no, you do it the other way!"

"Oh! Sorry!"

"No no, you're fine! Don't worry!"

Roberto corrected his position, their heads tilted to opposite directions.

"And now, you have to close your eyes…"

They both did so.

The lack of sight only made the tension rise to higher levels.

They felt their hearts pounding inside their feathered chests.

"A-and then…?"

"Then, you just…open your beak a little, and…"

…neither moved.  
Neither was willing to make the first move.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea.  
Maybe they should just stop altogether while they can.

But something was driving them not to back off.  
Something irrational. Something primal…

His breath.  
Roberto could _feel_ Blu's breath blowing against him.  
He could feel him, right in front of him, warming the tip of his beak…

"I…I, wait!" Roberto backed away.

"Huh?" Blu opened open his eyes, surprised by the unexpected reaction. "Is-is something wrong?"

"It's fine! I'm fine, just-give me a moment, ok?"

"Ok."

Blu felt a temporary relief, mixed with a rising frustration. His inner self battled with conflicted messages. Did he not want this? Did he really want it, though?

Roberto felt a rush of thoughts making a mess inside his head too.  
As he tried to put them in order, he took a series of deep breaths, trying not to lose whatever cool was left in him.  
Which was saying a lot, because his entire was feeling close to red hot.

He took one final breath. "Ok…ok, I think I'm good."

He turned to face Blu, again.  
Reviewing the steps in his head, he positioned himself, with eyes closed, ready for it to happen.

Blu followed, shortening the space between them even further.

He could feel him. Just inches apart.

So close…

So very, very, very close…

_Oh, just DO IT!_

And with that thought, Roberto dared to make the move.

Planting a sudden, yet gentle, kiss in Blu's beak.

Blu's eyes popped open, feeling taken by surprise. He did not see Roberto's initiative coming.  
Now where had he felt _that_ before?

It took him back to his first kiss with Jewel.  
It was just like relieving that dreamy moment once more. Every wonderful detail of it.

It took him no time before he closed his eyes once more.  
And then pressed his beak against Roberto's.  
Turning the kiss mutual.

Not a moment later, their whole selves were caught in the sensation of the kiss.  
They couldn't feel their intense heartbeats drumming under their chests.  
Nor their body heat increasing beyond levels they thought it could.  
There was nothing around them for a moment, as if the jungle blurred out into light.  
Only them, their beaks and the kiss that they shared.

Roberto tried to make sense of the new sensation he was feeling.  
But he couldn't. It was so new, so alien. So magnificent.  
It was too good to even try and bother to make sense of it.  
So screw that, he was going to enjoy every single senseless second of it.

He pressed himself further against Blu, strengthening the kiss.  
His instinct leading, he opened his beak slightly, letting his tongue slide inside Blu's cavity.  
The unexpected action caused Blu to slip a moan out of him...

Roberto immediately pulled away. "Sorry!"

"What?" Blu look confusedly at the nervous fellow macaw.

"I…I did something wrong, didn't I?"

"No! You did absolutely nothing wrong."

"But that sound you made. I thought-"

"That? I was moaning."

"Moaning? Does that mean…you liked it?"

Blu nodded with a face that tried to hold to a denied bliss.

"Roberto…you are a _very_ good kisser." Blu exclamated. "Like…oh dear…"

"But I've never kissed anyone before!"

"Then, I don't know." Blu pondered, before letting out smirk. "Maybe you're a natural."

Roberto blushed at the compliment.  
It was a well needed and long-awaited boost in his confidence.

"Should I continue?"

Blu brought his face closer to his.  
"Yes."

A yes was all he needed to hear.

He threw himself at Blu's wings and initiated an even stronger, more passionate kiss.  
Their wings held each other tightly, their chest feathers pressing against one another in a loving embrace.  
Following his instinctive drives again, Roberto's natural talent for kissing was a blessing for Blu, who enjoyed every moment of it. Just how many talents had that bird been blessed with?  
It's like the macaw had been _born _to love.  
Holy guano, just when he thought it couldn't get any better past his handsome looks.

If only Jewel hadn't taken his heart first…  
_Then_ he could have Roberto all for himself and himself alone.

They parted beaks, allowing them to breathe some well needed air.

"Wow…" Roberto exhaled.

Blu let out a giggle. "Now you know how it is like."

A glad smile formed in Roberto's beak. Indeed, he finally knew. And it was a lot better than he imagined.  
But it wasn't just knowing that he could do it, but also that what he did could make his partner feel good.  
Hearing Blu's moans of pleasure as he kissed him…it made him feel so exhilarated. He loved it. He loved pleasing him; to hear that his actions were bringing delight to someone he loved.  
It was baffling. He never imagined the day he would think that Blu, the macaw he once despised the most, could possibly been the bird of his dreams.  
He wanted to do more for him. He had to. No one else deserved it more than him.

"Blu? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure! Anything."

"Do you have any…well, I don't know their exact names. You know there are parts in your body that when they're touched they feel kinda ticklish, but not completely, just feel good when touched?"

"Oh." Blu giggled when he realized just what he was trying to describe. "You mean erogenous zones."

"Ero-what zones?"

And a giggle again. He couldn't resist. It was pretty funny, in a very adorable way.

Blu stepped forward, almost bumping their heads against each other's.  
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. How's that?" He whispered in a surprisingly flirty tone.

Blu saw through those azure feathers a subtle excitement.  
"Sure." Roberto gave a shy grin.

Blu leaned back his head a little. "Under my chin."

Roberto raised a wing feather, insecurely driving it closer to the indicated spot.  
"So, do I just rub it or-"

"Yeah. Just rub it. It's fine."

With that assertion, Roberto gently caressed the spot.

Immediately, Blu shut his eyes. "Oh…" He let out a pleasured exhalation.

Roberto continued. He lifted a second feather, which he brushed along with the other across the sensible area.

"Oh my…" Blu spoke between moans.

As if taking advantage of Blu's little helplessness, Roberto leaned forward and planted another kiss, which his partner responded to.

Blu wrapped his wings around Roberto, surrendering himself completely to him.  
It continued like this, seeing if they could make this kiss outlast the first two.

Once they parted they kiss, it was Roberto's turn to share a little piece of information.

"At my sides." He whispered. "Below my wing-pits."

Blu realized he already had said area in his grasp.  
All he had to do was start brushing his wings against it and…

"Ah!...Oh…oh dear…" Roberto let out, feeling Blu's soft wings massaging his sides. Never did he think he would enjoy his intimacy being violated this much.  
But with Blu right now, he didn't think there were any depths he'd not allow him to explore.

They continued to stimulate one another, hearing closely their sighs of delight.  
An increasing arousal grew within them, without their knowledge, and crept its way all the way to the lower regions of their bodies…

In a little distraction, Blu's wings slipped up to Roberto's wing pits.  
When he tried to caress them it wasn't a moan he got in response, but a loud giggle.

"Blu!" He held is laugh. "I said _under_ my wing-pits, not in them."

But then a devilish idea came to him.

He rubbed there again.

"H-hey!" Roberto struggled to keep his chuckles from bursting out. "Stop!"

"Nuh-uh." Blu teased slyly. "Shouldn't have opened your beak!"

Before Roberto could do anything, he became victim of Blu's tickling frenzy.

"W-wait! Blu!" Single words was all he could mutter in middle of his explosive laughter. "Please! D-don't! Mercy!"

"Mercy? Sorry, don't know what that is!"

Hearing his plead only urged Blu to tickle him harder.  
Roberto's laughter, not a feigned chuckle or a vain, pretty giggle: a real, genuine, burst of laughter, boomed across the woods. Soon, he wasn't even able to say a single word anymore.

Overwhelmed, Roberto stumbled and fell of his back. Blu took advantage and topped him, pressing his weight down against him to hold him in place.

"I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!" Roberto begged, still unable to control his cackles. "I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

That laughter.  
Oh, how Blu loved hearing it.

"Anything, huh?!" Blu enjoyed the dominance he possessed over Roberto.

"YES! ANYTHING! BUT P-PLEASE, STOP!"

"Alrighty then!"

Though enjoying seeing him helpless, Blu gave in and stopped his wild tickling, allowing the defeated Roberto to catch his breath at last. His goofy grin, however, did not fade along. "Alright. What do you want?"

"Hmm…" Blu was actually surprised how little ideas he had in mind.  
But he knew there was something he'd not mind having again. "How about a kiss?"

"That's it?" Roberto smirked. "Just another kiss?"

"Nuh uh. Not just _another_ kiss."  
Blu closened his face to his again.  
"How about you try outdoing yourself and give me your best shot. Think of it as a challenge…or rather, a new lesson."

"A challenge, huh?"

Blu nodded. "Think you can do it, _Beto?"_

Roberto smiled at hearing him utter his nickname, for the first time.

"Just watch, _Tylerino._"

He didn't hesitate to comply with the request.  
If this was another challenge, then he was more than eager to go with it.

And so they pressed in another strong kiss.  
A big and passionate one.  
A very strong kiss.

Again, Roberto let his tongue slide into Blu's beak, who returned the action to him.  
Who would knew, Blu thought, that exchanging mouth germs through saliva would could be this romantic?  
It seemed odd; to think that, time ago, he had told himself Jewel was going to be his sole exception for his disgust towards French kissing.

Was this too much?  
Were they getting carried away with these little love lessons?  
Could these be called lessons at all?

Their thoughts were silenced over the cries of sudden desire inside their heads.  
Roberto was having the time of his life. Never before had felt so much joy.  
And Blu simply loved being the one making it possible for him.  
Questionable? Yes, indeed.  
Worth the risk?  
Absolutely.

Their kiss finished.  
And by the time their eyes met again, they became aware of the warm sensation that had taken over their entire selves.  
A lustful craving.

Roberto knew this was no normal sexual urge like the ones he dealt with via tree branches.  
It was something far, far more intense.  
Far more powerful.

Blu saw it in his eyes. It was crystal clear.

"Well well." Blu spoke with a slightly uncharacteristic sultry tone. "Looks someone's ready for the next lesson."

Roberto could see in Blu's eyes also.  
Penetrating into his gaze, he glanced upon his desire for him.

He felt eager, anxious.  
Yet also, scared.

His longing was starting to go away.

"What is it, Roberto?" Blu could see his insecurity.

"Blu…I don't know if I can do this…"

Blu had to stop and think for a moment. Was everything going too fast for him? Was it overwhelming him?  
"You know…you don't have to if you don't want."  
Even though Blu couldn't lie to himself: he did want it, very much.  
But not at the expense of his little '_trainee'_.

"But I do!" Roberto tried to clarify. "I do. It's just, well, you know…first timer and all." He cracked a nervous smile.

A relieved Blu gave a comforting grin.  
Leaning his head closer to Roberto's, he cuddled him lightly.  
Roberto took the gesture with reassurance, and cuddled him back.  
It was another new for him. It opened the doors to a new sensation to flutter its way into him.  
It was, how did they often describe it?

Oh yes, like butterflies in the stomach.

"I can try and take the lead if you want." Blu said to him.  
Such a seductive invitation.

"A-are you sure?"

Blu only nodded.

"You know how to?"

"Well, I don't normally top, but…"

'Normally' was an overstatement. Blu rarely got to enjoy taking the dominant role during sex at all. With a partner like Jewel, whenever they had a chance to be all alone and bump uglies, that position was nearly exclusive to her.

Not that Blu complained at all. Quite the contrary, he felt more than fond to take the submissive spot, for it allowed him to get all of it while doing the least of the work. Whether it was by simply laying down on bottom and letting Jewel do the work in the traditional act of lovemaking, as it was most of the times…or by going as far as being tied up, blindfolded and being called a 'little bitch' amongst other degrading obscenities, as it was during those rare urgencies for something radical and kinky. Either way, Blu always found a delight in being dominated by his soul mate during their times of total intimacy

That said, there were a few times where Jewel liked to take a break from dominating and was more than willing to let Blu take over her usually reserved spot.  
And boy, did he actually love it.  
Even if it meant having to put the most effort out of the two, Blu certainly found pleasure at being the one in control. It was, after all, so much fun to see his tremendous work paying off in the form of an orgasm coming from his partner.  
This was going to be no exception.

"But, what?"

"Oh, nothing. I know how to, well enough at least. No worries."

"Even though, you know…I'm a guy and you're a guy?"

"Oh, please. It's really not that different." He continued to reassure. "I know from experience."

"…that 'long story' of yours?"

Blu nodded. "You could say that."

"So, what can you tell me about it?" Roberto wondered out loud.

"Well…it only happened for one night."

"One night? That's all it took?"

"Yup. That's all it needed to take."

Curious as Roberto was getting, he felt he'd probably kill the moment if he tried to dwell deeper into it. He got all the reassurance he needed from the amber-eyed macaw. He knew he was in good wings.

"Well, whatever you do…just be gentle, ok?"

Blu planted a little smooch on his forehead, letting him know he'd be so.  
He felt touched by getting to know Roberto's shyer side, knowing that below all those layers there was still a timid little bird in need of confidence. In many ways, he was just like him.

"Ready?"

Roberto nodded.  
Nervous.  
Eager.

"Ready."

There was no need to keep him waiting any longer.

Blu gave a slow, careful thrust.

Roberto let out an exhalation.  
As he backed away, he heard a little grunt of discomfort as well.

"Oh, was that uncomfortable?"

"No. Well, just a little. Your leg…"

"Oh, sorry." Blu shifted his position, moving his leg into a less intruding place.

"No, I'm sorry." He tried not to sound rude, Blu could tell. "I hope I'm not being too picky or something…"

"Don't be sorry. It's normal during everyone's first time."

Roberto felt Blu kissing his forehead again.  
It was a quick way to remind him everything was ok.

"Just tell me if something's not ok and I'll stop, alright? We'll see what we can do about it."

"Okay." Was Roberto's simple answer.

"Alright, here goes again."

And Blu thrusted again.

Roberto took it, this time not feeling any discomfort.  
Only the friction that caused his spine to chill, before letting out a giddy giggle of pleasure.

"Better, huh?" Blu asked.

He got a nod as a reply.  
He felt Roberto's heart beating against his chest, inviting him to give him more.

He pressed once more, again very gently.

Roberto closed his eyes. He tried to block away any distracting thoughts to focus on the stimulation he was experiencing.

"So, everything fine now?" Blu asked, before pressing a third time

"Yeah…" Roberto said lowly.

"Is it ok if I speed up a little bit then?"

"Sure, go on."

Confident to keep going, Blu caught a low rhythm and began humping to it.

Being new to the sensations, trying to hold on to them while they lasted, before they faded away and then came back with every hump.

He was unsure if what he was feeling right now was how it'd feel like for the rest of the activity, having never really seen someone in middle of the act before…by accident, obviously. He'd never dare to disrupt a couple's privacy. But he'd only heard about sex from others' words, so words were all the knowledge he possessed.  
But trusting Blu, he let him lead him through it, knowing both would find satisfaction in the end.

Blu kept thrusting, keeping the same pace.

Roberto was liking it, making it evident by every deep breath he took.  
But truth be told, he was starting to get a little bit impatient.  
He wanted to know what it felt like to go all the way.

"You can go even faster now." Roberto dared to request.

Though it came a bit unexpected, Blu was more than happy to comply.

He turned up the speed of his humping. Just a little bit, to make sure Roberto didn't get too much too soon.

Roberto let a small groan, taken by surprise by a pleasure that bred from the increase of friction. It crept through his body.

Blu maintained the rhythm, entertained by Roberto's little squirms and his silly facial expressions.  
As Roberto continued his low moaning, Blu could feel his own breathing growing into a slight panting.

And so, Blu thrusted a bit harder.  
Roberto reacted pleased to the strengthen stimulation.  
Turning up the speed again, Blu shut his eyes, directing his thoughts towards his motions and the pleasant sensation that produced from his crotch.

Their bodies kept bumping rhythmically. A ruffle of azure feathers.  
Their faces suddenly close by an inch, they felt the warm of their breaths moistening their faces.

They didn't question their actions.  
Yes, Blu was a married man and father of children.  
Yes, what Roberto was doing with him could be damaging to his reputation.  
What would Eduardo and the rest of the macaws think?  
What would Jewel think of them both if they saw them right now?

It was dangerous. Even alone, they knew deep down it was risky.

Yet that only added a sense of thrill to it.

Lessons, they could tell themselves.  
They could pretend it was all still lessons.  
And when it comes to learning, why not get to enjoy it to the fullest?  
_Learning is fun_, as Blu remembered reading in a poster at Linda's second-grade classroom when he was brought for show-and-tell day.  
_Learning is fun._

Roberto spread his legs apart a bit further.  
It allowed Blu lay more comfortably on top, now able to give his companion everything he could.

Blu tried to turn up the speed even more, seeking to increase the surge in the stimulation further.

However, he was growing aware that his legs weren't complying all too well to the increase in pace.  
They were growing sore.

Unable to continue, he slowed down until he came to a halt, before his leg muscles would start to ache badly.

"Blu?" Roberto asked in concern, as the amber-eyed macaw dropped his head against his shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"I'm ok." He replied between his heavy breathing. "I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

"Well, uh…" He was ashamed to admit. "Like I said, I don't normally top, so...I guess I'm just not used to it."

"But I thought you had strong legs?"

"Oh, it's one thing to use them for running. And it's a completely different thing to use for this."

"I see."

Roberto felt mildly disappointed by the sudden halt. His body was still yearning for more. This wasn't a horniness that a branch humping was going to satisfy so easily.

Yet he couldn't force Blu to keep doing everything, especially if his body wasn't letting him to.

"So…do you want to stop?"

"Oh, no no! Just, give me a minute! Then I'll be back on it. I promise!"

Roberto felt the heat of his breath warming up his neck feathers as it slowed down in an attempt to find a bit of rest.  
Blu was, after all, still pretty feeble compared to most other macaws in the tribe, let alone compared to someone as incredibly fit as himself.  
The poor guy, he must be pushing himself to the limit.

All just for him.

He wanted to know how it felt like, to be the one doing the giving.  
To hear the pleasured voice of his receiving partner.

"I'm sorry, I'll do it again. I promise…just let me-"

Carefully, Roberto pushed Blu apart as he got on his talons.

"Roberto?" He was shifted into a sitting position while Roberto stood tall in front of him. "What are you-?"

Roberto leaned down and shut him up with a kiss on his forehead.  
"…doing?"

He playfully forced the sitting macaw into lying down on his back.  
All while he positioned himself on top of him.  
Blu felt the protectiveness of of Roberto's wings, enveloping him in a warm hug.

He raised his head to find something different in Roberto's face.

An inviting stare.  
A provocative smile.

The roles had been shifted now.

He had done so much for him already, Roberto thought.  
If he only he could truly return the favor to him now.

Just like he had done earlier, Roberto ignored any thoughts of self-doubt.  
In fact, he ignored every thought altogether.  
Primal instinct would be his guide.  
And his primal instinct had an urge to hear Blu moan.

It wasn't a shy, unexperienced bird who Blu was look at right now.  
It was a wild, lustful animal ready to ride into the limit.

It made Blu's heartbeat accelerate.  
It made him ridiculously horny.

Holding Blu in his strong grasp, Roberto read his mind through his anticipative stare.

He didn't even bother going through the gentle stage.

And so het cut straight to the rough and fast.

Blu instantly let out an elated gasp.  
His unprepared body stiffened as it tried to take the sudden waves of stimulating friction.

And it was only going to get wilder from there.

With an animalistic passion, Roberto increased the pace.

Boosted by his stronger physique, the strength of his thrust grew intensively.

"Ahh!" Blu yelled out a passionate groan.

Roberto went even faster.

A fire inside him burned his senses.

Fueled by his fiery lust.

Blu moaned louder.

Their cries of pleasure began to ring loudly through the trees.

The excess of fluids dampened their feathers.

But it was necessary, in order to keep the frenetic speed of friction from hurting each other.

Roberto went faster.  
Faster.  
Too fast.

This wasn't going to last long.

Which was great, because they wanted it _now._

The dominating macaws' wild screams announced his incoming climax.

Blu clenched on Roberto's wings.  
Anticipating.

He was about to come too.

One more thrust.  
Then another.  
And another.

Their grips tightened.  
Their beaks clenched.  
Their eyelids forced shut.

Everything in their bodies stiffened, forced strong, holding it, not letting it come out.

And then…

Two cries of orgasming pleasure echoed through the grove.

Their sensed felt muddled, blurry. They almost felt dizzy.

They didn't move for a few moments, driving all their energies into breathing, getting back precious oxygen back into their numbed brains.

After some moments of gasping, their sense came to be once more.

Roberto opened his eyes, finding the satisfied face of his partner.

"Ooh, Roberto…" Blu whispered, panting. "That was…amazing…"  
His eyes opened, stare locked into his.

"So…does that mean I passed my lesson?"

Blu chuckled. "With flying colors."

Roberto happily rested down, lying next to Blu on the branch as the night wind breezed gently.

Their eyes locked together in an exchange of loving stares.  
Nothing could drive those gazes away from one another.

"I'm sure you'll meet someone very special one day, Roberto. And whoever that is, I guarantee, you'll make him the luckiest bird in the world."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He whispered, nuzzling against his brawny chest, tucking himself under his strong wings. "Because I already feel very lucky myself…"

Roberto held Blu protectively, cuddling his beak against his forehead. "Thank you, Blu."

"Oh, please." He looked up to him. "You can keep calling me Tyler if you like."

Roberto looked down to see him. "If you're cool with that, _Tylerino_."

The next day, Roberto would teach Blu the way back to the village.

Blu would return home with his family.

Roberto would continue with his duties.

Together they'd have an interesting story to tell from their trip.  
Of course, with several parts omitted.  
But with the pleasure of letting the tribe know of the newly made friendship that had blossomed from those three days together.  
Who would have thought that the most bitter of enemies could end up getting along so well and in such a short time-span?  
Either way, no one would be any happier upon hearing such news.

Blu would continue loving Jewel like the lovely wife she was.

Meanwhile, Roberto would find the confidence to seek a soul mate of his own.

All in all, those three days at the side-grove wouldn't have been any more worth it.

But before any of that happened…

Laying there on the tree branch, huddled in each other's wings

They shared one last, wonderful, blissful kiss.


	7. Epilogue

A.N.

And that was it.

Thanks for reading!

And now, for a small epilogue.

* * *

**Epilogue**

How fortunate that the two of them had been too loud during their lovemaking.  
Otherwise, they might have heard the ruckus she was doing humping against the branch she watched them from, as well as the little squeal that accompanied her orgasm.

She couldn't help herself. It had been her guilty fantasy for a long while already. Never did she imagine that tonight, right in front of her eyes, it would happen for real. There was no way she was only going stand there and watch.

Now that she had pleased her little perversion, she enjoyed the sight of the two male macaws sleeping in each other's wings.  
Moments like this, she felt like being a hypocrite and carry around a camera, which she usually disliked as she did to anything electronic, to keep moments like this in permanent pictures.

She'd have to tell every detail of it to her aunt after she returned. It was, after all, part of their deal after she offered to watch over her children while she was gone.

Knowing well that Blu and Roberto had held an intense animosity ever since they met, she hoped her dad's idea of sending them both away for a few days, just the two of them, would help them get over their differences for good and at learn to get a long a little. Of course, there was the huge risk that it could backfire, turning things much worse with them hating each other more than ever.  
Not to mention there was the factor of her husband's attitude and ineptitude towards the wilderness, which could be a possible risk for his own wellbeing.

So she for the last three days, she had been silently watching them both from distance. His little spying activities were of no one's knowledge other than her aunt, her only accomplice. Save for a few times where her movement in the trees had accidentally produced a noticeable rustling noise, she had left no mark of her presence during the duration of their stay in the side-grove. And even those times when she was heard, the two male macaws simply dismissed the noise, rather trying to seek the cause behind. All close calls, but thankfully, none ended in her discovery. The two had been completely unaware that she had been watching over them all this time.

The first day had gone much like how she had expected it to go: with the two of them bickering non-stop. Frankly, she hadn't come with very positive expectations to begin with. She told herself she'd only intervene if things went really, really out of wing and their dispute took a violent turn. Luckily, that never occurred.

By the second day she was about to give up all hopes. The way dispute erupted between them, it seemed like the whole thing wasn't going to work at all. The only result would be that by the time they returned to the village they'd be even worse enemies than ever. It was almost painful, to see two of the most important macaws in her life, her loving husband and her best friend of all time, being so hostile to one another.

But then, that same night, her hopes were lifted up dramatically.  
It had been simply touching. To see the two open to each other like that, to show the side of themselves that they hardly showed to anyone else.  
It was then when she knew it was all going to be worth it. Maybe there wouldn't be any need for her to keep looking at them in secret, so she could go back earlier to her kids.

But her curiosity nagged her to stay.  
How far would this new bond go?  
It was unrealistic to think so. She told herself it was merely wishful thinking. That her little secret fantasy between the two of them would stay as a silly fabrication of her mind and nothing else.  
But she stayed nonetheless.

And now, with both her hope to see them becoming friends and her erotic wish of seeing them having a good, passionate fuck together fulfilled, her trip had been even more than worth it. Every second of it.

Satisfied now that everything was over, she rested against the tree, making sure the dense foliage covered her figure from sight.  
She'd have to get up early tomorrow before the boys woke up. After all, they would be expecting her to receive them home.  
If they were to know about her absence, however, she had already planned a little lie along with her aunt. Simple, but she knew it'd work.

She drifted into sleep. That night, she had the most pleasant dream she have had in a long time.

There were two blue-furred lions running across a prairie: two males, one bigger than the other, and one female.

She've had this dream in the past, and it always ended the same: the two males ended up fighting each other over the female, leaving the female watching upsettingly without being able to do anything to stop it.

But tonight, the ending was different: the three lions kept running together, closely, enjoying their company as they continued their run into the horizon.

"My big, handsome lions…" Jewel whispered in her sleep.

Blu would never find out that when her wife said she wasn't in the mood for sex, some of those times were because she wanted to go out somewhere private and hump a branch or use a twig while her mind too her back to the night when _Beto_ and _Tylerino_ made love.


End file.
